Match fixing
allegations has taken away sheen off the IPL (Indian Premier League) that was
riding high on people’s frenzy for cricket. Once considered a gentlemen’s game,
cricket no longer invoke such credentials. Neither the players nor the owners
of the various franchises hence forth are regarded as promoters of game. The
IPL is now an organised business strategy and an entertainment contrivance to enthral
cricket fanatics’ world over. Especially the inconsistencies of team
performances leave us astonished. It is incredible how a team posting an extremely
unrealistic high runs on score board on one day gets dismissed at bizarrely low
score the next day. May be the unpredictability is main cache attracting some
while others simply thrash it for its incongruence.
The initial
few seasons of IPL were a big hit as the broadcasting services and media made
huge money but slowly the interest had waned. These matches used to make a big
dent on viewership of other channels as well. With the result, other channels were
even forced to reschedule their entertainment programmes during the prime time on
match days. But with attested evidence
of involvement of bigwigs and players in the match fixing cases in the IPL 6
people developed an indifferent attitude towards the IPL as such. It has kind
of lost its credibility. This year the palpable frenzy is missing due to
allegations of spot fixing, money laundering, betting and termination of
franchises.
IPL started
in 2008 is touted for its biggest commercial success. It is held annually during
the months of April to June in India. When IPL-2 in 2009 clashed with the
general elections the match venues were shifted to South Africa. This year
again IPL extravaganza had to be moved out
of India, as the Union home minister expressed his inability to provide
security for the matches as it clashed with election dates. There were several
places on cards- South Africa, Bangladesh, UAE and Sri Lanka as favoured
venues. But then it was decided that IPL would be conducted jointly in India
and UAE with the first spell of 20 matches from April 16th to 30th
to be played in UAE at three different
venues- Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi each having seating capacity of around 25
thousands. The second spell would be played in India from May 2nd to
June 1st except in May 16th which is the counting day. The
crucial decision of selecting the venues had lot of business implications for
the cash rich IPL body.
A number of
issues have been taken into consideration to ferret out best returns in
business. But the first question is why did South Africa fail to garner sufficient
support to pull IPL to its turf when it has successfully conducted IPL 2?
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Cricket South African has demanded Rs 150 Crores
to host the event while UAE obliged to host it for Rs 60 Crores. Besides the
money aspect, weather conditions and the time zone are different. A difference
in timings might definitely hit the viewership hence the option was discarded.
But by choosing
UAE, IPL has enhanced its prospects of making more business. UAE falls in
similar time zone and the weather conditions during this part of year are
almost same. The atmosphere and pitches would be similar leaving little scope
for franchises to complain. While it is
known fact that UAE has the highest population of Indians abroad, hence IPL can
milk the cricket crazy Indian expats. Its treasuries will be guaranteed a
steady inflow of revenue too. By stretching itself to UAE it has increased its
propensity of finding more sponsors for the event. As evident from the crowds
from the completely packed stands in all of the matches, IPL seems to have
stuck gold. The response of the crowd is amazing and the entertainment hasn’t
sizzled out unlike in South Africa where most of the stands were empty. Further
since UAE isn’t much far from India, fans can attend the matches and watch their
favourite teams in action.
No wonder with interest in IPL ebbing in India, organisers should seek greener pastures to keep both its commercial promise and charisma alive. Indians who have become globe trotters in recent times are known to be movie buffs and cricket freaks. Enthused by a positive response for IPL7 in UAE it may not be preposterous to expect future editions of IPL on foreign soil. India International Film Festivals so far have been patronised by Indian movie lovers settled abroad. It shouldn’t be startling if IPL organisers too take the same route.....
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