Various forms of sports in India such as Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Kabaddi, Polo, and Formula 1 among others have been promoted and patronised in the recent past. The investment of large corporates and sports authorities which resulted in the upliftment of Indian sports has tremendously multiplied in the past decade. Though hockey, in which India has an impressive record with eight Olympic gold medals, is officially the national sport, cricket has always been the most preferred sport by Indian masses. It is candidly said that cricket is in the blood of Indians.
Originally introduced by the Englishmen, cricket was focussed largely on the up-market class of the demography. The game contained only two formats viz; One day matches of 50 overs and five day test matches. Cricket - also called a gentleman’s game - was predominant with the male audience in the age group of 18-50 years. In a bid to give direction to this game, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was formed in 1929. India entered the international arena and played its first official Test against England in 1932. In 1935, the Ranji Trophy was established Many other Trophies such as the Irani Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy came into existence.
The evolution of television contributed to making cricket the religion of sport in every household. India’s World Cup win in 1983 catapulted this interest further. Around this time, the game and the players gained recognition and attracted many corporates for brand endorsements. New formats like the Challenger Series was established by the BCCI in 1994. This led to the recognition of cricketers as icons which subsequently made the corporates rush towards the game to create awareness and visibility for their brands. New businesses such as brand endorsement, event management, and celebrity management started emerging from this era. Further, the cricket authorities turned for support to commercial sponsors who introduced a growing range of mini-cricket matches and friendly matches with gimmicky rules. These friendly matches played by film celebrities for a cause gained immediate acknowledgment. However, there was a major deterioration in the interest of the game with several scandals related to match fixing and gambling plaguing cricket and its players. Furthermore, the debacle of the World Cup in 2007 led to its decline in popularity to a great extent. Corporates started withdrawing investments in this sport and looked out for other prospective sports.
India’s win in the Twenty-20 Cricket World Cup under the captaincy of M.S.Dhoni came like a boon in disguise. Both - the Twenty-20 format and Indian cricket bounced back with a bang. Players like M.S. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh became heroes overnight. The Twenty-20 format gained stupendous response in the country, and eventually Zee TV’s Subhash Chandra established ICL (Indian Cricket League) - a private cricket league with matches following the same format. This league was formed with the intention to help India develop cricketing talent, as well as provide lucrative sports programming for Zee Telefilms. It managed to attract many sponsorships by big brands. Various other players in the media, marketing and PR industries tried to leverage on the popularity of the format. In reply to ICL, BCCI came up with a similar league called the IPL (Indian Premier League).
With the incorporation of IPL, which works on franchise system based on the American style of hiring players, the business of cricket has been very well showcased. National and international players were auctioned for a total of about USD 718 million and sold to teams owned by various Bollywood filmstars and business tycoons, who have made huge investments in their respective teams. Further, for the first time in cricket, PE and financial firms also participated. Huge transactions crossed hands; for example Sony and WSG won the broadcasting rights for a reported amount of USD 918 million. Further, IPL attracted an expenditure of approximately Rs. 3,984 crore (USD 963 million) for the overall media rights.
Today, cricket is become a rage amongst all sections of the demography. Merchandise and fan clubs have geared up as T20 attracts children and women to the sport. The sport has managed to garner record breaking revenues for the Indian Media & Entertainment industry. The Indian TV advertising revenues, projected to cross USD 6,000 million in 2008, are estimated to grow at a CAGR of 22 percent thanks to the influence of cricket. India is the third largest pay TV market with about 68 million homes paying a monthly subscription to receive specialty channels; this market is expected to grow with the demand for cricket viewing. The sponsors and investors are expected to get a profit on their investments due to appreciation of the game by the mass audience. Adversely, cricket has affected the businesses of leading production houses, with low TRPs and viewership of their television soaps.
Finally, with the game being patronised even by international companies, cricket does have a bright future. Fast becoming a business avenue for companies from all sectors, it can be easily seen as a cocktail mix of glamour, business and cricket. The future will see much more business capitalising on the business of cricket.
Originally introduced by the Englishmen, cricket was focussed largely on the up-market class of the demography. The game contained only two formats viz; One day matches of 50 overs and five day test matches. Cricket - also called a gentleman’s game - was predominant with the male audience in the age group of 18-50 years. In a bid to give direction to this game, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was formed in 1929. India entered the international arena and played its first official Test against England in 1932. In 1935, the Ranji Trophy was established Many other Trophies such as the Irani Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy came into existence.
The evolution of television contributed to making cricket the religion of sport in every household. India’s World Cup win in 1983 catapulted this interest further. Around this time, the game and the players gained recognition and attracted many corporates for brand endorsements. New formats like the Challenger Series was established by the BCCI in 1994. This led to the recognition of cricketers as icons which subsequently made the corporates rush towards the game to create awareness and visibility for their brands. New businesses such as brand endorsement, event management, and celebrity management started emerging from this era. Further, the cricket authorities turned for support to commercial sponsors who introduced a growing range of mini-cricket matches and friendly matches with gimmicky rules. These friendly matches played by film celebrities for a cause gained immediate acknowledgment. However, there was a major deterioration in the interest of the game with several scandals related to match fixing and gambling plaguing cricket and its players. Furthermore, the debacle of the World Cup in 2007 led to its decline in popularity to a great extent. Corporates started withdrawing investments in this sport and looked out for other prospective sports.
India’s win in the Twenty-20 Cricket World Cup under the captaincy of M.S.Dhoni came like a boon in disguise. Both - the Twenty-20 format and Indian cricket bounced back with a bang. Players like M.S. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh became heroes overnight. The Twenty-20 format gained stupendous response in the country, and eventually Zee TV’s Subhash Chandra established ICL (Indian Cricket League) - a private cricket league with matches following the same format. This league was formed with the intention to help India develop cricketing talent, as well as provide lucrative sports programming for Zee Telefilms. It managed to attract many sponsorships by big brands. Various other players in the media, marketing and PR industries tried to leverage on the popularity of the format. In reply to ICL, BCCI came up with a similar league called the IPL (Indian Premier League).
With the incorporation of IPL, which works on franchise system based on the American style of hiring players, the business of cricket has been very well showcased. National and international players were auctioned for a total of about USD 718 million and sold to teams owned by various Bollywood filmstars and business tycoons, who have made huge investments in their respective teams. Further, for the first time in cricket, PE and financial firms also participated. Huge transactions crossed hands; for example Sony and WSG won the broadcasting rights for a reported amount of USD 918 million. Further, IPL attracted an expenditure of approximately Rs. 3,984 crore (USD 963 million) for the overall media rights.
Today, cricket is become a rage amongst all sections of the demography. Merchandise and fan clubs have geared up as T20 attracts children and women to the sport. The sport has managed to garner record breaking revenues for the Indian Media & Entertainment industry. The Indian TV advertising revenues, projected to cross USD 6,000 million in 2008, are estimated to grow at a CAGR of 22 percent thanks to the influence of cricket. India is the third largest pay TV market with about 68 million homes paying a monthly subscription to receive specialty channels; this market is expected to grow with the demand for cricket viewing. The sponsors and investors are expected to get a profit on their investments due to appreciation of the game by the mass audience. Adversely, cricket has affected the businesses of leading production houses, with low TRPs and viewership of their television soaps.
Finally, with the game being patronised even by international companies, cricket does have a bright future. Fast becoming a business avenue for companies from all sectors, it can be easily seen as a cocktail mix of glamour, business and cricket. The future will see much more business capitalising on the business of cricket.
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