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.

IPL: the show goes on, in soggy SA

The Indian Premier League is in full swing in the not so sunny South Africa, where rain has fallen on the covers at some point during each of the first four days of the tournament.

Not that the weather has stopped me from savouring the high quality action from the warmth and comfort of the press box.

Watching Shane Warne weave a masterful web around the Bangalore middle order on day one was certainly a highlight. And I could feel the anger that still exists between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds as they did battle at the most beautiful ground in the world, against the back drop of Table Mountain.

It does seem ironic that billboards across the country advertise the IPL with the slogan, “The heat is on!” as we go into the South African winter. But at all three grounds thus far it has been evident from my chats with fellow spectators that they are enthralled by the extravaganza that is the IPL.

Considering South Africa was preferred to England on weather grounds as the replacement tournament host, the fact that the weather in England has been lovely and sunny over the same period makes for a good chuckle.

Frozen toes and soggy blankets are a recipe for a poor day out, no matter the quality of the cricket on show. And do spare a thought for the scantily clad cheerleaders in tight wet spandex outfits. [Don't worry about that – Ed]

Only one of the first eight matches of the second IPL season has been called off without a result: Mumbai and Rajasthan shared the points in a match in Durban on Tuesday without a ball being bowled.

Another thing about miserable weather is that it is not conducive to high scoring matches. This does not suit the IPL and its big talking boss, Lalit Modi. Modi is the kind of guy you either love or hate. He has boasted that his tournament will bring lots of runs and 2 billion rands (approx 200 million US dollars) worth of revenue to the South African economy.

Modi has also told us that 90 per cent of tickets for the out of cricket season tournament have been sold out, so – to judge from the empty seats at some of the games – it is probably prudent to take his claims with a pinch of salt.

Modi is a marketing whiz with a colourful background. He is a US dollar billionaire with friends in high places. Modi’s energy and ambition to get huge things done represents the antithesis of what he have come to expect from cricket administrators.

The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has seen its revenues grow seven fold since Modi joined its ranks in 2005. A good whack of this extraordinary growth in revenue comes as a direct result of Modi’s power broking in the sale of media rights for the IPL and the Champions League for 2 billion dollars and 723.6 million dollars respectively.

Whilst there was rain around, it did not interrupt proceedings at the opening double header in Cape Town on Saturday. However, Bruno, a black labrador did slow things down as he toyed with umpires, players and officials for 11 minutes mid way through the opening innings of the tournament.

Bruno turned down a game of fetch with the cricket ball, resisted dives from several players who attempted to make difficult catches at various fielding positions and was fed a bag of biltong by an IPL official. Fortunately for the groundstaff, Bruno eventually trotted off without dropping a DLF Maximum on a length.

It was a long day at a chilly Newlands but the near-capacity crowd stuck it out to the end, despite the impressive opening ceremony, which took place – of course – after the first two matches, finishing 90 minutes behind schedule.

It was surprising that there was nothing Indian about that ceremony but I must say that the combination of Cirque du Soleil and big bosomed African drummers looked bloody marvellous under all the lasers, fireworks and smoke machines.

There has been a mixed response to the seven and a half minute “tactical breaks” that happen half way through each innings. Another brainchild of Mr Modi, the breaks are nothing but an opportunity to increase advertising revenue in the style of American sports.

On the second day in Cape Town a 12-over match was subjected to this break even though the day was again running over an hour behind schedule. The breaks are boring for all concerned, especially on double-header days. Furthermore, they negatively impact on the momentum of the batsmen at the crease.

The good news is that matches at the four highveld venues are highly unlikely to be affected by rain. They are also guaranteed to produce some high scores. But as a good friend pointed out to me today, the IPL and Cricket South Africa should have ensured that they have two super soppers in working order at each of the four coastal venues. At both Cape Town and Durban there has been only one in semi-working order. Possibly, in South Africa in the autumn, this is a basic error, when there is so much money at stake.