And for a Friday of the 16th edition of one of world’s biggest Sporting extravaganza, IPL 2023, some thoughts….. some musings…..
The format has remained the same as last year; 10 teams in 2 groups of 5 each, 14 games per team, 7 at home and 7 away. After Covid, first time each team are hosted in their own cities; CSK in Chennai, MI in Mumbai, RCB in Bangalore, etc. etc. So great city loyalty and home crowds with huge markets to be exploited. Big money and boost to economy. If Sam Curran, the England all rounder, was bought by Kings Punjab for a whooping 185 mn Rs, the top 20 players too are all in the big 100 mn bracket. It’s not what BCCI made; 5000 crores just from auctioning TV and Digital advertising. Since the teams now travel across the country, every 5 and 7 star hotel is booked 100% on Match days. Each Team finds it’s own revenue streams. MI have signed 100 crores franchise from each sponsor like M&M, Garnier Men, Bisleri, Max Life Insurance and Ultratech whilst Rajasthan Royals is tripling its revenue not only from sponsorship but ticketing revenue, education business and academy propositions. Every team has their exclusive brand from their zone or ethnic identity region. It’s big money. By 2025, IPL will become the world’s richest sport. In India, betting is not allowed but global companies are already active. Ladbroke are offering 11/1 for Punjab Kings whilst Betway offers 8/1 for Lucknow and Bet365 offers 7/1 for RCB. It’s big money at global scale.
Cricket is a great leveler. India is a continent of 1.4 bn people divided by every way thinkable. Language, food, religion, culture, dress etc. etc. But the biggest unifying factor is Cricket. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Bhuj to Arunachal, every 5 year old and 79 year old has an expert opinion and analysis of the last game. Praising their heroes one day, kissing their photos for winning and throwing chappals the next day if they don’t perform. Such is the passion and involvement in the game. The format of IPL requires young budding talent from hinterlands of India to be selected. The case of Rinku Singh the KKR batsman, son of a LPG cylinder delivery man with six siblings and in utter poverty from Aligarh in UP. His father had forced him to take up a job mopping floors at a coaching centre. He ran away, excelled in cricket and on that fateful night of 9th April, hit 5 consecutive sixes. Just Divine intervention and today is catapulted to global recognition and richness. That’s the power of IPL and cricket in India.
Let’s all enjoy the Game every evening 7.30 pm and weekends are double headers. Let’s support IPL. Let’s help grow the Indian economy the sporting way, the participative way, the SEEGOS way.