IPL now goes international

Two great stories emerged last weekend. One was India’s comprehensive victory in the Hamilton test, the first test win in New Zealand for 33 years. The second was of the IPL deciding to move out of India. But for all the history and joy associated with the test victory, the IPL story has created a much bigger stir in the cricketing world and the media.

The desperate situation that IPL finds itself in today makes me very very happy. Let me explain why…

The motive behind the IPL
IPL is not an event of national pride. It is not even a cricketing event. In fact, IPL is a business model that has promised big profits for all stakeholders - the BCCI, franchisees, sponsors, broadcasters, and the cricketers themselves. All stakeholders except the most important of them all – CRICKET.

If the development of cricket was among the priorities of BCCI, we would have seen much more interest and coverage for the domestic competitions – the Ranji, Irani, Duleep and Deodhar trophies. There could have been a domestic T20 competition on the lines of similar events in England, Australia, South Africa, etc. We could have some teams sign up international stars to add the glam quotient.

But all of that would not have satisfied the humungous appetites of the goons that run Indian cricket. They wanted to make it big, with corporate houses buying teams, cricketers being auctioned off like prostitutes or slaves in the olden days. So, the only motive behind this entertainment circus is money.

The Political connection
The biggest problem with world cricket today is its administration. It is not run by people who understand the game. Neither is it run by professionals with prior experience of sports management. The problem is especially damaging in India, where the people in charge are either corrupt politicians, or some rich influencers who can throw some money around to make lots more.

Any aspirant of a top BCCI position must have significant political affiliations. That was exactly the formula used by Lalit Modi. Unfortunately, BJP lost the Rajasthan state elections, and after that, Modi lost his clout in the Rajasthan Cricket Association. That made him weak in his home turf, and with the Congress at the helm in Parliament, he obviously cannot pull as many strings. Dirty, Dirty politics!

The Franchisee dilemma
Cricket is India’s #1 passion. The country stops when the national cricket team is on the field. So, it is not at all difficult to rope in the corporates who can use such a platform to reach out to Indian masses. That’s exactly what attracted big names like Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya, and other (stupid) corporate houses to put in hundreds of millions of dollars into this ambitious project.

The model first ensured that BCCI would make profits. Most of the franchisees would take at least 3-4 years (of successful IPL) to break-even.

With so much at stake, the franchisees have no option but to support BCCI in whatever steps they take to ensure that IPL2 happens. It was not mere coincidence that we heard all team owners express full support to BCCI. And they do not have an exit route; nobody will invest (bet) in this circus given the economic downturn. Franchisees have to rake in whatever sponsorship they manage to get, and pray that somehow their losses this year are minimized.

Where now?
At this moment, the BCCI is considering 2 options to host the IPL – England and South Africa. These are the only 2 countries where cricket can be played in April and May, and the telecast can coincide with prime time in India. The boards are more than willing to accommodate the IPL on its grounds. And why not? Why should anyone mind the extra buck?

Common sense and knowledge of adverse weather conditions in England would suggest that South Africa should be the obvious choice. But there seems to be some powerful lobbying for the games to be held in England. The economics would tilt the decision in favour of England. Given the huge expat population, we can expect some good crowds for the matches. Some reports suggest that the Indian team management (Dhoni and co.) want the matches in England, so as to get some valuable practice before the T20 World Cup there.

I would like this to happen, and to see how many matches get washed (or even snowed) out. I wonder how many sponsors would be willing to stick around thru the chilly journey to England!

What lies ahead…
The next year (if IPL lasts that long) will be even more interesting. IPL plans to host matches in March – April to avoid a clash with the T20 World Cup in West Indies. It will then clash with the exam season. This will mean that the student/ youth segment (and their families) who make up the largest segment of audience (either in-ground or on TV) will give the matches a miss.

Lower audiences will mean lesser ticket revenues. Lower viewership will mean lesser sponsorship revenues. All this will translate into losses for the franchisees (the biggest losers in the whole circus). Ultimately the IPL will lose the pillars it stand on and hopefully, should fold up – the sooner the better.

Summarizing..
The IPL wants to change the face of international cricket. The goons promoting it want to take all romance out of our #1 passion and make cricket a business. They were cheeky enough to lay the blame of the IPL2 fiasco on the non-cooperation from the government and political reasons for the fiasco. So much for climbing the BCCI ladder using political affiliations themselves!

Indian Cricket is the ‘Goose that lays golden eggs’. BCCI, instead of nurturing the goose, wants to cut it open and have all the eggs at once. They want to fill their coffers and usurp all the power they can using this money. Now, it’s their karma hitting back. Hopefully, this should see a major change in cricket administration, and better days and years ahead!