By Alec Swann
March 15th 2010 @ 5:08am
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IPL bigger than the EPL? I think not
“I see the IPL is becoming bigger than the NFL, the NBA, the English Premier League.” So said Lalit Modi, Commissioner of the Indian Premier League, ahead of the third instalment of the competition which opened with the Deccan Chargers facing the Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday.
It is a grand proclamation from an ego that has few equals in the cricketing world, but is it based on sound logic or is it nothing more than hyperbole, a statement designed to create headlines and publicity, but with little in the way of foundation?
Call me a killjoy, but I would lean heavily towards the latter as opposed to the former. And this isn’t out of any dislike of the 20-over format which has been proved to have its place at the table.
The chief cause for any scepticism should lie in Modi’s ambitions. He has stated that the IPL is about introducing more people to the game, and to a certain extent this is correct.
Twenty20 the world over has increased attendances and television audiences because of the short and sharp nature of the product on offer.
But Modi’s focus is really on how much money can be generated. He has openly admitted that a spending cap on the participating teams is used to drive up advertising revenues and merchandise sales – not necessarily a bad idea – but if money making is at the top of the agenda initially, it isn’t going to slide down the agenda anytime soon.
And this is where the problem lies.
Modi recently tried to auction off two new franchises with no success and to rival the NFL, NBA and English Premier League, more than a six-week competition would be required.
To be out of the international consciousness for 85 per cent of the year simply does not lead to worldwide commercial domination, but the inability to introduce new teams suggests that a peak has already been reached.
The competitions Modi wishes to firstly challenge and then usurp are well-established with massive fan bases, a core audience and a share of the market that can’t be wiped out all that easily.
Soccer in America has tried, in fact is still trying, but it can’t break the strangle held by the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball. And soccer is the biggest sport in the world.
Modi has ambition, no-one can deny him that, but it’s hard not to feel that he is barking up the wrong tree entirely.
Money talks and the IPL has its place in the cricketing calendar, however, it can only grow so far without making further dents in the already saturated international schedule, and without growing it won’t force its way into the kind of sphere Modi wants.
Greed can sometimes be a good thing. In Modi’s case, it could be anything but and if I was in charge of the NFL, NBA and Premier League, I wouldn’t be losing any sleep.
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Brett McKay said | March 15th 2010 @ 7:47am | Report comment
Oh, the IPL has started…..
Lu said | March 15th 2010 @ 7:54am | Report comment
Laughable.. I struggle to see anyone outside of India really having much interest in this..
i mean i was up until 3am this morning following every kick in the United v Fulham game, and will do so next week when united face liverpool. And i’m sure there are many out there who are red eyed like me right now, in fact every monday following their team.
Will Foot Locker replace their LeBron James and Carmello Anthony singlets range for a Deccan Chargers or Rajistan top? I think not.
Will JayZ or Fitty Cent name drop the likes of Kumble or Habijan in their chart topping releases? a long shot.
Will advertisiers pay upwards of $10M for a 30second spot during the interchange of the IPL final? Doubt it.
Will any of the teams in the IPL have a rich rivalry as the Red Sox v Yankees affairs? It’ll be a while.
At least they have ambition yeh?
Note: Apprently UFC has surpassed NHL in popularity in the US..
drewster said | March 15th 2010 @ 7:58am | Report comment
Lalit Modi! Just another Administrator who enjoys being a “Legend” in his own mind.
M1tch said | March 15th 2010 @ 10:11am | Report comment
they got google on their side – youtube has a cricket bat on the logo for a couple of days
Chris said | March 15th 2010 @ 10:45am | Report comment
In 30 years when India has the Worlds largest economy (with Pakistan and Bangladesh joining England and Australia in the top 15) the IPL will be absolutely massive in commercial terms. 5 of the Worlds 15 largest economies will have cricket as one of their biggest sports. Personally I have struggled to get into it so far, mainly because they are playing internationals at the same time and none of the top Australian players are involved. The ICC needs to set aside a 3 month IPL window and the competition will be absolutely huge.
How to fit this window in?
1) Abolish ODI’s (or at least scale them back dramatically. They have none of the tradition of tests or the excitement of T20, why do they still exist?
2) Scale back International T20 (we do not need two “World Cups” in the space of 9 months). Cricket should be like every other sport in the world where Internationals are an occasional delicacy and not the staple meal.
Tom said | March 15th 2010 @ 4:48pm | Report comment
I think you are ignoring China with regards to the world’s biggest economy…
Chris said | March 15th 2010 @ 8:02pm | Report comment
Could be a close run thing. India will be much larger population wise and won’t have to deal with the Health cost and productivity time bomb that is China’s aging population (apparently replacing 2 adults with one child was a great idea when they were in their 20’s, but it won’t be when that one child is having to support the two adults who will be too old to work by then).
Either way it will be very close.
Balthazaar said | March 15th 2010 @ 11:21am | Report comment
I thinka big issue for the IPL is to have the best international players available for the entirety of the IPL season.
Having the Australian One-day and test team playing in NZ during the IPL prevents wider interest from Aussie and NZ fans in the IPL.
Cricket needs the best players to be available to play in the IPL.
Sam said | March 15th 2010 @ 11:33am | Report comment
Why should Test cricket play second fiddle to a domestic championship? There is far to much cricket at the moment, and Australia plays way way too much. I’m happy that the best Australian players will be playing Test cricket rather than T20.
Chris said | March 15th 2010 @ 3:36pm | Report comment
“Why should Test cricket play second fiddle to a domestic championship?”
Perhaps because every single IPL match will get higher crowds and ratings than the entire Australian-New Zealand series combined.
Forgetmenot said | March 15th 2010 @ 5:40pm | Report comment
NBA -> EPL -> IPL?
Perhaps cricket is the next big ‘cool’ sport, and the IPL will receive a lot more attention. I personally think that the NFL may become the next big thing.
Jeb said | March 15th 2010 @ 7:05pm | Report comment
cricket is cool now. isn’t it?
Chris said | March 15th 2010 @ 8:05pm | Report comment
NFL may become the next big thing?
It IS the worlds biggest League now by almost every measure that exists (crowds, player wages, TV Rights, Sponsorship $$$). The EPL doesn’t even come close. Can’t really see the NFL getting any bigger though because no one outside America cares (and the rules are too bloody confusing for casual viewers).
punter said | March 15th 2010 @ 8:36pm | Report comment
The NFL is the biggest league in the world because it’s the no 1 sport in the biggest economy in the world, also US has 6 times the population of England & on a whole the US, like Australia, the ‘new worlds’ are probably most sports orientated than those in England.
This lies the biggest difference between EPL & NFL (outside Nth America noone cares).
The EPL are just as big outside the UK as it is inside the UK. Countries all over the world watch the EPL.
padman said | March 22nd 2010 @ 8:35am | Report comment
NEW DELHI/CHENNAI: It’s raining dollars in Indian cricket. Future rich-lists the world over are bound to see serious shake-ups, with many Premiership heavyweights finding themselves elbowed out of the leaderboard after the IPL announced two new super-huge franchises in Chennai on Sunday.
Consider this. Chelsea, one of the wealthiest, most powerful football clubs in Europe, would find itself smacked out of the money ballpark if mere figures went head to head.
The Premiership giants, who were bought by Russian oligarch Roman Abrahmovic for £140 million (Rs 966 crore) in one of the most high-profile takeovers in international sport in 2003, would appear a mid-table struggler if compared to the £246.35 million (Rs 1,702 crore) Sahara splashed out on Sunday.
While it is almost certain that Rendezvous Sports pumping in money for a Kochi-based T20 franchise sounds the death knell for Kerala’s traditional favourite, football, at Rs 1,533 crore, the cricketing venture heads both Chelsea and Liverpool, which was taken over by US ice-hockey team owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks for £219m (Rs 1,511 crore) in February 2007.
It should be noted that seven seasons ago, the Russian oligarch was paying the amount he did for an established brand, one that was almost a century old, while on Sunday, the Indians paid these astronomical sums merely to gain entry into what is still a fledgling venture, which recently began only its third season.