Ten years is not a long span in life. But it is fairly long in the life of a sports brand. May be not long enough if you compare it with American sports brands like NFL and NBA which are many decades older than the Indian Premier League (IPL). But ten years is a fairly decent span at least in the case of IPL, given the fact that it has ruined many reputations and weathered several controversies, obstacles, match-fixing scandals, corruption charges and conflict-of-interest accusations against officials and former players over the past decade. The fact that it has survived and flourished like no other sports brand in India is proof of its strength as a major sporting event that connects not just with cricket enthusiasts but anyone who enjoys watching television at prime time.
This year’s IPL edition is more significant than the previous nine. The BCCI is in a dismantled state; its affairs are being managed by the Supreme court-appointed committee of administrators (CoA). IPL-10 is taking place under the watchful eyes of four administrators. It is commendable that the tenth season of the summer cricket extravaganza kicked off on April 5 without any controversy or last minute hiccups. What is also creditable is the fact that despite its share of controversies, scandals as well as changes in five teams either through suspension or takeover, the league has gone from strength to strength. It began as an experiment, an experimental fusion of business, cricket, celebrities and entertainment that has become an enjoyable pastime for in-stadia spectators as well as television viewers over the years.
A brainchild of the ingenious Lalit Modi, the disgraced ex-IPL commissioner, who toyed with the idea of launching a world class cricketing league in the 90s, the process to launch the IPL was expedited after the launch of Indian Cricket League (ICL). ICL did not have the BCCI’s blessings. Declared as a ‘rebel league’, it did not last long and was later trounced by IPL. But since its launch in 2008, IPL has been a rage, not only amongst cricket enthusiasts but corporate entities, film stars, broadcasters and advertisers who want to be a part of the cricket-cum-glamour event that is consumed by millions of cricket fans and TV viewers.
Abhorred by purists and criticised by many others for brazen commercial exploitation of the game, there is enough substance in the purists’ lament that IPL (and the T20 format) not only lacks the soul of Test cricket – finesse, sophistication, application, technical elegance and the classic battle between bat and ball – but encourages slam-bang approach and relies heavily on entertainment aspects. There is little denial in the fact that IPL is essentially a television-driven event and hence, by extension, a consumerist product that is packaged attractively and marketed brilliantly. The fact that the IPL format has been copied in many Test playing countries, though not with as much success as IPL, is an indication of the fact that blatant commercialisation has taken precedence over the classic and creative aspects of the game’s original format.
There is little doubt that IPL has expanded the talent pool in India. It has helped improve fitness levels as well as batting, bowling and fielding standards. Played with great competitive spirit, it attracts the best of local, national and international talent. It also offers the best opportunity for promising local players to showcase their talent for better future in international cricket. But IPL is fundamentally a commercial venture. It is a magnet for the best global talent mainly because of lure of the lucre. To pull in more crowds and attract maximum viewers on TV, the attempt is to play to the gallery through popular means – songs and dances, for instance. Hence each match, instead of being a serious contest of talent and skill, is reduced to an event or performance.
Given its success and mass appeal, IPL is here to stay. With each season its reach and earnings are increasing and so is its valuation. According to global valuation and corporate finance advisor Duff & Phelps, at the end of ninth season last year, the value of brand IPL was USD 4.16 billion, against USD 3.54 billion in 2015. Total viewership calculated by impression was 1.02 billion for IPL-9 edition in 2016. The reach of the tournament stood at 361 million. What is more impressive is the brand’s appeal across all-India markets, both urban and rural, though IPL has little more urban-skewed viewers because of the glamour factor, according to a comparative study done by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the official TV viewership measurement agency. The sheer reach and stable viewership makes IPL an ideal vehicle for advertisers to reach their target audience. In fact, there is no other property in India that consistently delivers such high viewership and humongous reach.
IPL minus TV rights is a lame duck; its valuation will crash without broadcast rights. For instance, the media broadcast rights for nine-year period from 2009 to 2017 were sold at Rs. 8,200 crore. For the next ten years (2018 to 2027) BCCI was eyeing Rs. 16,000 crore (USD 4 billion) before the bidding process was suspended by the Justice Lodha committee. It remains to be seen whether broadcasters will pay that kind of money. But then IPL is an expensive property and BCCI’s cash cow. BCCI may or may not get the price it is looking for from media rights. But there is little doubt that broadcasters have lot of appetite for IPL rights because of its reach and viewership. As primetime viewership is the biggest revenue generator for broadcasters, IPL becomes a must-have property for them to boost their sales and net profit.
For all stakeholders, including the BCCI, IPL is the most valuable brand which makes significant contribution to their earnings. Advertising revenue for Sony Pictures network, the official broadcaster, in 2008 was Rs. 250 crore. Last year, it was more than Rs. 1,000 crore and this year it is estimated to be around Rs. 1,300 crore. In 2015-16, the income from IPL for BCCI was Rs. 1,299 crore. The surplus it contributed to BCCI’s kitty was Rs. 211 crore, which was 15 per cent of BCCI’s total income of Rs. 1365 crore. In 2008, the surplus from IPL was Rs. 15 crore, which was 2 per cent of BCCI’s annual income of 711 crore. These figures clearly indicate how IPL as a sport-cum-business venture has grown from strength to strength.
This wasn’t entirely unexpected though. In India religion, films and cricket have huge markets. While religion is primarily a matter of faith, films and cricket are consumed for their entertainment quotient. In a country where no other sport is as popular as cricket, an innovation blended with popular entertainment elements was bound to succeed, given the fact that T20 cricket is tailor-made for consumption as entertainment. But if IPL’s success has made a few business points, the purists as well as those who care for the game also have a point: that the growth in popularity of the T20 format is at the cost of Test as well as one-day cricket. Till a decade ago, one-day format was held responsible for the decline in popularity of Test cricket. Now both are at the receiving end of the T20 format. No wonder India plays mostly truncated Test and one-day series these days, while nothing comes in the way of a full season of IPL each year lasting over 50 days.
The writer is a Mumbai-based independent senior journalist
