The Business of IPL – Money Minting Mantra of Indian Cricket
By Natraj Muthukrishnan on 18 September, 2009, 12:59 pm
What started as a small idea conceived in the most improbable circumstances for a cricketing league in London’s Wimbledon suburb in the year 2007, today is the hottest sporting league the world has ever seen. It is amassing itself with each passing edition and promises to enthrall not only the audiences but also to spring up money like never before. Cricket has got its money minting machine, its own kuberan in the form of the Indian Premier League and hence, the epicenter of world cricket is no longer in London or Sharjah or even Australia but it is India.
The magic began in Jan 2008 when eight teams were auctioned for a whooping sum of $724 million. The revenue generated from media and sponsorship deals not withstanding in this figure. A part of this whole sum was reinvested in the aging cricket stadiums in the nation and specifically to those which were to host IPL matches. A typical example of successful business strategy. It was a win win game all the way. The players were not left behind. For instance, players are being offered a fee of $1.55 million for just a five week season, against $500,000 to $1 million, depending on the country, for an almost year-long slate of national team games. This was the beginning of a revolution in cricket world, A revolution which took the whole cricketing fraternity by storm.
IPL has proved out to be the hottest sporting league in the world. A look at the business of how IPL operated and developed into a major cricketing league set to transform the way cricket is played all over the world.
The shift in paradigm is so huge that many players have already leaving their national teams to focus on the IPL. To cite a few examples, Hayden and Gilchrist have a lot of cricket left in them which is evident from the form they are displaying in the IPL chose to retire from the international cricket to join the league. The stage was set up just like a blockbuster movie and what a fitting finale the first edition met. The results of each of the matches had its influence on the business. How? Let me explain…
Continue Pages: 1 2
[...] wrote about the business of Indian Premier league here and that the top B-schools have accepted it as a very good business model here. And now, the third [...]
[...] spoke in detail about the business model of IPL and the way it has transformed cricket here. Looks like we are not the only one thinking that way. ISB (Indian School of Business) , Hyderabad, [...]