The change is dramatic, disruptive and distinctive, and is likely to move the game to its next stage faster than one imagined at a time.
The change is dramatic, disruptive and distinctive, and is likely to move the game to its next stage faster than one imagined at a time.
What exactly do those numbers with all zeroes mean? When you stare at a word for long enough, it starts to sound strange and meaningless. Psychologists call this ‘meaningful satiation’. Look at the IPL rights figures for quite a long time – 50,000 crores, 60,000 crores, six billion dollars, – and there is numerical saturation. The figures start to look a bit absurd.
The IPL ignores inflation, ignores the Covid-induced slowdown, and seems to have carved out a state of its own in the sporting landscape independent of the economic environment. The audience is now under pressure to watch IPL. Any drop in viewership can be seen as a lack of interest and discouraging advertisers. We’re in for more hype, more frenzy, more frenzy – and next year before a ball is thrown! This is the nature of the animal.
For those willing to pay the equivalent of a small state’s GDP for the rights, it’s not about cricket. It’s all about guaranteeing eyewear for cement makers, car makers, makers of perfumes and pan masalas and tires and fizzy drinks and much more. It’s all about the long-term audience for their channels.
attracting an audience
It is all about attracting the audience to his other programs through cricket. IPL reached the stage long ago when failure was too big; Now it is flirting with a more dangerous prospect – to succeed so well that the next round of rights cannot be upheld. Do not forget that someone has to pay for all this.
What will the Board of Control for Cricket in India do with 100% revenue growth? It has already announced a hike in the pension of former players and umpires, which is a good thing, but a small change in monetary terms. Will the extra money be put back into the game or will it be used for more travel and more comfort for the office bearers?
Will BCCI demand more accountability from state units? Will there be an increase in first-class fees for players, umpires, scorers, groundsmen in the national championships as recommended by many experts?
Will spectator comfort in our stadiums move higher than the bottom of the priority list? Will IPL be guaranteed a better class of commentators?
According to reports, advertisers paid Rs 15 to 18 lakhs for ten seconds during this year’s IPL. It will increase further as those in possession have paid more for them. At what point will advertisers turn away? Then there is the question of the number of teams and matches.
There is already talk of 12 teams in one season and two IPL tournaments. Maybe another abroad. It will take half a year or more. Where will that leave international cricket? Is franchise cricket the future of the sport, with the World Cup being the last remnant of international rivalry?
Maybe it’s an exaggeration – but, as science fiction has shown us, what would be normal in the future will start out as an exaggeration in the present.
Breaking
There is also the possibility that T20 cricket could break away from the International Cricket Council, if not the IPL itself, create its own ecosystem and provide players with more money, more exposure and a better work-life balance.
When Joe Root admitted that he had given up the England captaincy that it had become “a very unhealthy relationship”, he was unintentionally speaking on behalf of international players weary from long trips away from family, and With the income was barely commensurate with the effort. Add to that the selection uncertainties and career-threatening injuries, and earning more for playing less becomes very lucrative.
IPL guarantees more money in less time; It can be seen as a domestic challenge with an international flavor, and can also be attractive.
The recent five-day Tests have been some of the most exciting in the history of the game, yet if a generation of players are convinced that the 20-over game has all the subtleties and nuances of a five-day match, it will be in vain to try. Forbid them otherwise. Money (cricket) makes the world go round, after all.
The IPL’s digital rights figures have exceeded expectations, a sign that cricket is expected to be consumed (to use marketing lingo) in the future. The old certainty is no longer there; The difference between the result of the past possession cycle and the present is not of degree, but of a kind. The change is dramatic, disruptive and distinctive, and is likely to move the game to its next stage faster than one imagined at a time.
earlier this year, Forbes reported that the Mumbai Indians, the IPL’s most valuable franchise at $1.3 billion, have more than six Major League Baseball teams or 27 NHL teams. Good news for the economy of cricket, but what about cricket itself?