The seventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will begin tomorrow, in a new avatar, at a new venue, the United Arab Emirates. As it did in 2009, when it went to South Africa, this year, too, it has been shifted because of the ongoing general election.
Ironically, today is also the day when hearings into last year’s IPL spot-fixing and betting scam are set to resume in the Supreme Court. The scandal devoured S Sreesanth, as well as some lesser-known players. It became murkier when Raj Kundra, co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals and Gurunath Meiyappan of the Chennai Super Kings, son-in-law of ex-BCCI chief N Srinivasan, who is also the IPL team’s owner, were accused of betting and match fixing.
Indeed, for a while, there were doubts if the IPL would be held at all this year, with the investigation ongoing, and many calling for the tournament’s suspension. Many wanted the Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings to be left out of the tournament. But with the Supreme Court giving it the green signal, the latest edition of the tournament is set to begin with all eight teams participating.
Whatever its current and past problems, the fact remains that the IPL has taken on a life of its own. It has created an ecosystem where players, corporate entities and fans have together built a successful league. Cricketers, even those from far-flung towns, can seriously plan a career in the game and earn well. For franchises and sponsors, it builds top-of-mind brand awareness. And for spectators, it is all-round entertainment for a couple of months.
The revenue generated by the IPL is huge, and some of it is being put to good use by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. For instance, it has distributed some profits among past cricketers, giving them a one-time payment depending on the number of domestic/international matches they had played. Some of the money has also gone towards upgrading stadiums.
Sandeep Joshi is an unsung first-class cricketer addicted to the game. He loves Test cricket and also finds time to associate with the Delhi Daredevils, assisting the franchise with logistics pertaining to nets and training. Joshi believes the Indian Premier League is doing a lot of good. “A player has the avenue to earn a living through his involvement with the IPL. The tournament has helped promote cricket in remote areas,” he says.
Indeed, the IPL is providing livelihoods to many lesser-known cricketers such as Sanju Samson of the Rajasthan Royals, helping them rub shoulders with some of the top players in the world and learn from them.
Entertainment for fans
“The IPL has combined cricket and entertainment. At any given time you have 200 to 250 players involved. It provides something for everyone, brings families to the stadium,” says Kings XI Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia.
“The presence of top performers ensures that fans get to witness a high level of cricket,” says Rajasthan Royals CEO Raghu Iyer. “The T20 format has also created a new base of cricket fans who are spreading the popularity of the game.”
Zinc-coated youngsters, as well as some elderly ones, throng the venues in search of cricketainment. “It is like going to a movie. Instead of a small theatre, we get our entertainment under the floodlights. It hardly matters who wins. We get to see lot of fours and sixes,” says Shruti, a young IT professional.
Prestige for team owners
For team owners, the IPL offers a lot of prestige. However, in the last six years, the league has not delivered the level of profits the owners were expecting.
“Initially, most of them, I am assuming, suffered losses because no one knew what they were getting into. They went around spending blindly,” says Hemant Dua, CEO of the Delhi Daredevils. “Over the years, the franchises have become smarter and the costs have been rationalised. Revenues have grown a little but through a combination of central (such as television) and local revenues. The franchises have done well in the last couple of years.”
The auctions proved that the franchises have invested well. The size of the teams has also been pruned this year with most teams preferring only 18 to 20 players travelling.
Better off in India
However, the UAE sojourn has not really appealed to all the franchises. “It is good for the league to grow but not for the franchise. We have not reached a stage where merchandise grows and compensates the revenues. We are not Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid, where we travel abroad and sell millions of merchandise,” says Dua.
Wadia disagrees. “The IPL is a baby compared to some of the football leagues around the world. Give it time.”
Dua is not so sure. “For us, local revenue, local sponsorship, ticket revenue are critical aspects in generating revenue. Those get hit when the league travels outside. The operational costs go up significantly. There is a big difference in the cost of a hotel room in India compared to Dubai,” he says.
Their own profits aside, the owners are eager to point out that the IPL creates jobs and provides tax to the exchequer. “We did an economic impact study last year — we were the only IPL franchise to do it. Basically besides generating revenue for the franchise and the league, we also contributed close to ₹130 crore to the exchequer through direct and indirect spending. Similarly, other franchises, too, contribute at their state level,” says Dua.
“Indirect spending is induced spending — like people eating in restaurants and staying in hotels. There is luxury tax, entertainment tax. It creates lot of employment also. Overall, we at Delhi (Daredevils) are able to create close to 400 jobs,” he adds.
Looking ahead
“The IPL, even now, is a very competitive league. But a clear window that enables the participation of all cricketers from across the world would take the competition, and the entertainment quotient, to greater levels,” says Rajasthan Royals’ Iyer.
Delhi Daredevils is aiming to explore the idea of enlisting members. “We have launched a loyalty programme wherein people will be allowed to join us through the digital platform. People can use that platform and be part of the franchise throughout the year. The idea is for the fan to be engaged through actions and not just purchases. We will award them for it by collecting points and redeeming them,” says Dua.
As far as the cricket fraternity is concerned, the Indian Premier League is a godsend. There is not a cricketer, past or present, who would not like to be associated with the league in some capacity. The purists do not count in this commercial world. The motto is ‘Let cricket thrive in all its glorious forms.’
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is finally happening in a new avatar and at first-time venues. By travelling to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) the IPL has evolved as a tournament. Not liked by the purists but overwhelmingly loved by the youth, it is a cricket platform that is clearly going to stay.
It is a journey that began in 2008 essentially to counter the growing popularity of the Indian Cricket League (ICL), promoted by Essel Group and deemed a rival by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). ICL lost out to IPL because the BCCI banned players figuring in the rival league. It also kept its venues out of bounds for ICL, which met a premature death.
The IPL was launched with much fan fare, involving some of the greatest icons of the game like Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne. The potential was identified and conceptualized by Lalit Modi, a maverick who gave the BCCI a lucrative model that generated revenue, brought a new set of spectators to the ground as celebrities from cricket and cinema combined to produce heady cocktail. In essence, Modi gave the game a new lease by exploiting its shortest format and developing the IPL into a successful combination of cricket and entertainment.
Among the plus points of IPL is it creates jobs and provides tax to the exchequer. It helps the franchises brand roar, cricket where youngsters rub shoulders with some of the top players in the world which they would never otherwise get, learn from them. For the spectator, it is a 360 degree entertainment through sports. IPL, as a young cricket fan exclaimes, “rocks.”
Sandeep Joshi is an unsung first-class cricketer addicted to the game. He loves Test cricket. Would not miss a ball; But he also fins time and energy to associate with Delhi Daredevils, assisting the franchise with logistic preparations pertaining to nets and training. He says, “When cricket was first played, it was only a bat and a ball. All its glorious vagaries, traditions, statistics, rules and regulations, its nostalgia and its spirit followed later. Without comparing the two, Twenty20 cricket (or the IPL), is as much cricket, as Test Cricket. We also know IPL is being branded as the cause of corruption in cricket.”
Is IPL the bane of cricket? Some players opting for IPL ahead of their national team cannot be an example to quote. Young players being attracted to IPL more than state teams has been a disturbing trend. Punjab Cricket Association, stung by some of its talented players paying greater attention to Twenty20 and IPL, decided to prevent all under-21 cricketers from playing this shortest brand of cricket.
Rajasthan Royals CEO Raghu Iyer defended the IPL. “It is a unique sporting league which has changed the paradigm of sports tournaments in the world. It is a very successful model which has ensured that the best cricket players in the world come together every year to deliver unparalleled sporting action. The presence of the top most performers in the game ensures that fans get to witness a high level of cricket. On the entertainment side, apart from pulsating matches, the short T20 format has ensured that a new base of cricket fans have emerged who enjoy and thus spread the popularity of the game.”
True, IPL has brought much-needed money into the game. There are more pluses, than minuses, feel some cricketers. Thanks to the revenue generated by IPL, the BCCI shares it with the players. In a generous gesture, it distributed the profits among past cricketers, giving them a one-time payment depending on the number of domestic/international matches they had played. Players also point out how the profits have gone towards upgrading the stadiums.
Most importantly, as Joshi stressed, “Players can look to plan a career in cricket. IPL gives you that platform. A player has the avenue to grab instant glory and in turn earn a living through his involvement with IPL. The tournament has helped promote cricket in remote areas as youngsters now dream big. If you see, most Indian prospects have come regularly from lesser known towns. New cricket lovers have found positive entertainment through IPL. The only blot on IPL is the process of making a commodity of cricketers through auctions.”
Iyer observed, “On the business front, the IPL has created an eco-system which encompasses multiple stakeholders who have benefitted tremendously from this league. On a franchise level, based on our experience, the IPL has provided a business model which if executed properly, is a profitable one. The IPL has created an eco-system where different stakeholders, brands, corporates and fans contribute to the success of the league. The IPL ensures that a large number of professionals associated with the sports, marketing and corporate worlds gain employment. The revenues gathered by the IPL have grown year-on-year, and the benefits of this are accrued to all stakeholders and helps grow the game as well as those associated with it.”
For Hemant Dua, the Daredevils CEO, IPL is a growing property. “It is a very good combination of cricket and entertainment put together. There is a good amount of serious cricket that goes in there. Youngsters not in the limelight get a chance to perform. Also, entertainment should not be confused for frivolousness. Entertainment is through cricket because it is a short format event. Over the years, city ownership has come in. Fans get to see some of the biggest international players on the same stage. Obviously there is music, cheer girls, food, a great event put together.”
When corruption hit the IPL last year in form of spot fixing, devouring players as successful as S. Sreesanth and some lesser known, the tournament faced an uncertain future. It became murkier when co-owners from Rajasthan Royals (Raj Kundra) and Chennai Super Kings (Gurunath Meiyappan) were accused of betting and match fixing. The matter is in Supreme Court with proceedings to resume on April 16, the day the 2014 IPL takes off in UAE.
Kings XI Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia looked at the IPL pragmatically. “The positives and negatives will be there. It comes with anything in life; nothing different in cricket. It is a highbred between competitive flair and entertainment. At the auction players go for a large amount of money. IPL, from my perspective, enhances a debate. It appeals differently to different people. We are promoting the game a lot more. Test cricket is the ultimate but this format allows us to see different skills. You can always watch a Test and watch the IPL and get hooked to the game. It is entertainment. It provides something for everyone, brings families to the stadium.”
It does to a large extent. The profile of the spectator has undergone a sweeping change. Zinc coated youngsters, some elderly too, throng the venues in search of cricketainment. “It is like going to a movie. Instead of a small theatre, we get our entertainment under the floodlights. Some of these veneus are transformed into magnificent theatres as two teams battle it out. It hardly matters who win. We get to see lot of fours and sixes. This is what the future cricket is going to be,” asserts Shruti, a young IT professional.
There is cricket. And there is business in IPL. As Dua says, “We did an economic impact study last year, the only franchise to do it. Basically besides generating revenue for the franchise etc and the league, we also contributed to the exchequer close to 130 crore through direct and indirect spending. It is a pretty large number. Similarly, other franchise too contribute at their state level. Indirect spending is induced spending. Like people coming out and staying at hotels, eating out at restaurants. There is luxury tax, entertainment tax. It creates lot of employment also. So, over and all, we, at Delhi, are able to create close to 400 jobs. That’s a large sustainer for the league and the society. We are contributing to the nation’s economy.”
Wadia notes, “I love all sports. When the opportunity came up to be involved with the greatest sport in India, we grabbed it to promote sport and give a chance to those who would not had the platform to showcase their talent earlier. At any given time you have 200 to 250 players involved. This league has combined cricket and entertainment.”
Kings XI Punjab, like Delhi Daredevils, has a new team, with a new coach in former Test opener Sanjay Bangar. “A Kings XI win will be great for the fans in Punjab. We have (Virender) Sehwag, (Mitchell) Johnson, (George) Bailey. We have an excellent coach. We had 12 different combinations when we sat down to studying and build the team that we have. We hired Bangar as assistant coach and then promoted him. A foreign coach is excellent. We had (Darren) Lehmann. After a coach of his ability, we were keen on Gary Kirsten. But then I realised we needed an Indian because seven of the 11 players are Indians. We needed someone who would be around. He is involved with Indian cricket.”
It goes to show the franchises have learnt to pick the right men. And also to spend money wisely. Dua states, “The franchises initially, most of them, I am assuming, suffered losses because no one knew what they were getting into. They went around spending blindly. Over the years, the franchises have become smarter and the costs have been rationalised. Spending has been rationalised. Revenues have grown a little but through a combination of central and local revenues. The franchises have done well in the last couple of years.”
The auctions proved that the franchises have invested well. The size of the teams also has been pruned this year with most teams preferring only 18 to 20 players travelling. Wadia welcomed the idea of the IPL, once held in South Africa in 2009 due to General Elections, being held iin UAE. “The competitive side has improved. It is good we are playing in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The tournament is going places. The IPL is a baby compared to some of the football leagues around the world. Give it time. There have been issues in the past but the IPL has grown and become stronger. It has to harness this position and move forward,” says Wadia..
But the UAE sojourn has not really appealed to all the franchises. Dua views it differently, “It is good for the league to grow but not for the franchise. We have not reached a stage where merchandise grows and compensates the revenues. We are not Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid, where we travel abroad and sell millions of merchandise. For us, local revenue, local sponsorship, ticket revenue are critical aspects of generating revenue, it makes us survive. Those two get hit when the league travels outside. The operational costs go up significantly. Cost of a hotel room in India compared to Dubai is largely difference.”
The franchisee may have their own reasons to invest in teams, but the IPL is a huge industry granting livelihood to many lesser known cricketers. It is believed that the team owners’ profit depends on popularity and performance of their players. They are said to present a different entertainment by spending profits earned from other businesses into IPL. In six years, the IPL business hasn’t earned profit for sustaining teams to the extent expected.
This year, insists Dua, is going to be an aberration. A tough year for everybody. It is got to do with 50-50 league happening outside. There was no clarity on the schedule. All those factors put together and some things you already know, I won’t like to talk about it. There is going to be an impact on people’s revenues.”
Looking ahead, Iyer feels, “The IPL, even now, is a very competitive league but a clear window which enables the participation of all cricketers from across the world would take the competition and therefore the entertainment quotient, to greater levels.”
Delhi Daredevils is aiming to explore the idea of enlisting members. “We have launched the loyalty programme wherein people will be allowed to join us through digital platform. People can use that platform and be part of the franchise throughout the year. The idea is for the fan to be engaged through actions and not just purchase. We will award them for it by collecting points and redeeming them,” Dua informs.
As far as the cricket fraternity is concerned, IPL is “most welcome.” There is not a cricketer, past or present, who would not like to be associated with the league in whatever capacity. The purists do not count in this commercial world, even if crass at times. The motto is `Let cricket thrive in all its glorious forms.’