IPL In Full Swing

We are nine days into the IPL and so far it has not disappointed. The tournament has boasted close games, full stadiums, record television audiences.

Lalit Modi would have licked his lips when the first three matches of this tournament were last-ball thrillers. The organisers couldn’t have asked for any better way to get the massive ball rolling. There is nothing easy about keeping the world interested in every game when there are so many games but it feels like Modi and his team are on top of things.

But the length of this tournament is a little testing. Especially considering it is just too bloody hot to play cricket at this time of year. 60 matches in 45 days is more cricket than even nutters like me can handle. But so far so good as the public lap up the show. One may have predicted that the novelty may have worn off but IPL 3 is generating television audiences that are up 35% on IPL1.

Today the announcement was made that the two successful bidders for additional IPL franchisers are Sahara and Rendezvous Sports World. They will be based in Pune (a two hour drive from Mumbai) and Kochi (the capital of Kerala – God‘s country). The two successful bids for teams were accepted at prices in excess of 300 million dollars each and take the number of teams in the league from eight to ten.

I have just had a chat with some of  the tournament organisers and it seems most likely that next year’s tournament will follow the same format – home and away round robins to establish semi-finalists who then play either in the final or the third place playoff. With eight teams that gives 60 matches. With ten teams it gives 94 matches!

25% more teams gives over 50% more matches. And that probably means over 50% more advertising revenue. Only time will tell whether the BCCI kill the goose that laid the golden egg but for now it is hard to deal with the realisation that this long tournament will consist of 94 matches! Blimey that’s a lot of Twenty20.

Next year the player talent pool will be diluted, fans will care less about each and every game and the BCCI will make more money. There will also be even more injuries. But the show will go on. This season the BCCI expects to make a profit of 750 crore rupees, 35% more than last year. It’s a profit of close on 200 million dollars after the franchises have taken their shares of the revenues. But it’s really much more than that because the present value of future income streams to the IPL brand is immeasurable. And you can safely expect it to grow.

Something I have noticed is that crowds have become increasingly partisan. Yes, spectators are up for a good show but they seem to care more and more about their home side. This is especially true in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata where full seas of red, blue, yellow and purple shirts go ballistic in the stands. It has taken a couple of years but fans are now supporting their teams and not just their favourite players.

But I can’t help but assume that the player re-auction that will take place before IPL 4 will undo so much of the fan loyalty that has taken three years to build. Imagine Manchester United and Chelsea giving up all their players and going to auction top see who will play for them for the next three years. The notion is ridiculous but any other method will be deemed unfair to the two new franchises. And they have paid big dollar for the privilege.