It?s the most notorious, glamorous, cash-rich and loved offspring of the BCCI, and the spoilt brat of Indian cricket. Yes, it is the Indian Premier League (IPL) and it?s here again, in less than a week from that fairytale evening of April 2, when Indian cricket got its epochal World Cup winning moment. The Men in Blue, who together added a few pages to history and record books, have now been sprinkled across the country, in the ten franchise teams to battle against one other in the world?s richest domestic league.
And for this cricket crazy nation that survived on cricket and little else over a month-and-a-half, the IPL has kicked in right at the peak of the World Cup hangover. So what does that mean for the fate of this season of the IPL that will be on till May 28? Will it be ever more seductive or will it fizzle out on account of the viewer fatigue? Will the World Cup hysteria spill over or will the city-based IPL get lost in a haze of nationalistic pride sweeping the country? And moreover, will the clouds of trouble, scandals and negativity that hovered over the league through much of 2010 disappear, resurrecting its public image post-Lalit Modi?
Going by sponsorship deals, ad rates and expected revenue, this edition of the IPL is expected to surpass the previous three editions, egged on by India?s spectacular outing at the World Cup. While the buzz among the fans and spectators can only be gauged once the tournament is well and truly underway, the business side of the IPL is brimming with expectations.
For starters, Set Max, the official broadcaster of the IPL is pinning its hopes on the extravaganza to generate revenue close to R 1,000 crore, a 30% jump over last year?s earnings of close to R 750 crore. The spot rates, which were reportedly around Rs 5 lakh per 10 seconds, have also seen an appreciation to Rs 6.5 lakh.
?The last ad deal came in at R 6.5 lakh. Our inventory is completely sold out now and we have reserved around 10% of it for the final stages of the tournament. Advertisers were coming thick and fast long before India won the World Cup and now it will only get better as the victory would just have a hugely positive rub off on the IPL,? says Rohit Gupta, president, Multi Screen Media (MSM), which owns Set Max.
But what about possible viewer fatigue, considering that there seems to be an overkill of cricket, especially with two lengthy competitions just in the space of a week from each another? ?There is no fatigue among the viewers. The World Cup seems to be a draining tournament, but it?s not. Only the nine India matches received high ratings, the rest of the games just fizzled out in terms of viewership. And for the general Indian viewer, nine matches in a month and half is not tiring at all, especially after the whole country is on a high after the Cup,? says Gupta.
Media buyers seem to be in agreement. ?The World Cup has enhanced the buzz and the excitement around the IPL. We believe that people want to see their World Cup winning heroes back in action on the cricket field at the earliest. The ratings for this year?s league will be at least at par with the IPL 3, if not more,? says Punitha Arumugam, group CEO, Madison Media, which buys media for Airtel, Cadbury and Britannia, among others.
Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media and MPG South Asia, concurs, ?Everyone is gung-ho about the IPL. It has always delivered in the past and it is expected to do better this year. Brands had already taken to the IPL much before India won the World Cup, so one can imagine what would be the mood now.? MPG?s clients for the IPL include Hyundai and Maxx Mobiles. While Gupta declines to speculate on the expected rates of the reserved inventory, industry insiders peg it at anywhere around Rs 11-12 lakh per 10 seconds, as the IPL reaches its climax.
This is, however, nowhere close to the rates in the World Cup final, which shot up to R 20-24 lakh from R 4.5-5 lakh that ESPN Star Sports charged for India games before the World Cup commenced. Experts feel that while India matches at the World Cup received a huge number of eye balls and also generated a lot of revenue, other matches did not even come close and were erratic in this respect, and that?s where the IPL, having more or less stable viewership and advertising across matches, is a much better bet for the advertisers.
So while no game in the IPL can match the viewership ratings of India matches at the World Cup, the average ratings should be much better during the IPL. In terms of brand value, the latest Brand Finance report on IPL pegs the tournament?s brand value in 2011 at $ 3.67 billion, which is actually a decrease from the hefty $ 4.13 billion in 2010. However, the potential is immense if compared to global benchmarks like the English Premier League (EPL).
Moving over business and closer to cricket, the issue of fatigue setting in among players due to the extremely tight calendar of the Indian team has also been doing the rounds. Just this week, India?s skipper MS Dhoni said that the possible onset of fatigue is a concern. ?It?s a very busy schedule. Because of the amount of cricket that we play, it does affect performances. Physical aspects are still manageable, but you might feel mentally tired and emotionally drained,? Dhoni told reporters at an event of Chennai Super Kings.
Experts feel that while fatigue issues are there, the World Cup has injected a lot of motivation among the players. ?Player fatigue is a huge concern, but with the great Indian show at the World Cup, the players also want to prove something further now and are highly motivated to perform for their IPL sides. I recently met (Sachin) Tendulkar and asked him what next after the World Cup, and he said that he now wants to win the IPL for Mumbai Indians,? says cricket historian and expert Boria Majumdar.
With as many as five IPL team captains from the Indian World Cup squad, the atmosphere is expected to be charged up. And what about the viewers? ?Had India not performed well at the World Cup, the IPL would most certainly have taken a hit, but now its timing is just perfect as good cricketing action continues without any withdrawal symptoms among fans. What?s in favour of the IPL is the fact that nationalism is not involved, which takes much of the cynicism and jingoism away from the game and makes it a lot more relaxing, entertaining and enjoyable,? says Majumdar.
With new entrants Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors taking the total number of teams in the IPL to ten, thereby swelling the competition to 74 matches, and the heavy movement of players from one team to another during the players? auction in January this year, IPL-4 has quite a few new offerings, including a new tournament format. Experts opine that this freshness coupled with the sweet and delectable World Cup win has been able to dump the negativity that surrounded the IPL last year. For a tournament that has grown into one of the biggest sporting extravaganzas globally, and attracted as many as 143 million eyeballs in the last season, it seems to be getting bigger and better in 2011. The party?s not over, in fact, it has just begun.