IPL The new Big Bully

I ll try to keep this short and frank.

If IPL is what you are looking forward to.. well consider this IPL itself is taking everything backwards. It has become a huge monopolistic organisation that would beat the Ego of the erstwhile East India Company. IPL 3 is more bigger and this time around you would be able to watch the matches on the Big screens. Its expected to be more colorful and more fun to watch out for.

But consider this, IPL has prohibited newscasters from broadcasting match clippings for more than 7 minutes a day. Even that can happen only after 30 minutes post the presentation ceremony.  Fans wearing a rival competitors tee shirt would have to remove it and wear the sponsors tee shirt in the stadias. I.e if you and I happen to sport a Airtel Tee shirt , some organizers would come, politely request me to strip it off and wear the Vodafone T- shirt.

Dont I have the freedom to wear what I wish? Is the 4th estate a mere puppet? 

People think, we are feeding a monster that dictates terms on how to enjoy a sport.

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The goose that lays the Golden Egg

Any publishing should start with acknowledgements and hence i would continue this tradition. the title i should say was invented centuries ago. actually its a fable.but i would like to thank DrKKR{google him}for giving me the spark and linking it to IPL. oh once again IPL. u must me be thinking i have nothing else to

write about. well the fact is that it keeps cropping into my mind as the example which signifies all known theories of marketing. segemntation, targeting postioning,branding, what more...

But there is a reason beyond this to write about IPL.. the sounds of this has begun and we can hear some faint noise about IPL being even bigger. well how big can big get. The last time i took up this topic is when IPL generated so much revenue and loads of people were making a living out of it. i was not a fan of Moving IPL out

of India but Lalit Modi once again surprised me. he got it right. South Africa became a strong launching pad to make the Brand IPL truly global.

We may get to see a few more teams coming up. as part of making it BIG they seem to

be tying up with some distribution companies to broadcast them in movie houses. and

folks who thought they can have a mug of beer and enjoy on big screens in pubs may

have to shell out a few more rupees as entry fees coz the distribution companies

have the right over the telecasting part. well does one have to pay the price of

gold just to watch a match.. its overkill mate..

We have just finished being on the loosing side of the cricket series.. nothing

wrong about as we lost to a higher ranked team, but the catch is the so called

mighty Australians did not have all their best players.

Ok getting back to IPL the so called commercialisation is at the pinnacle. All known methods and even the unknowns are being stretched to milk out the maximum out of the IPL . The contarct are for 10 years or so. Really dont understand the logic or thought process . 5 years ago we never imagined a format like this. so its nearly immposible to predict what will happen 2 years from now. retired people playing cricket. how much does it excite you. the question iam asking is if players like Dravid, Ganguly,Mcgrath can play the toughest format why not render their services to the national team. i do not wish to question their integrity. i know very well that they are playing for the fun of it. they love the game.

On the positive side this format has exposed many players to an international audience; given a solid income and best of all they play cricket under the watchful eyes of millions. as some one wisely said a "a person who walks through the fire will not get bogged down by the sun" this applies to lots of players playing IPL.

On the down side the country is loosing loads of good players to the IPL syndrome.

For example Yousf Pathan is good player. but he just had one innings with Indian cricket team. same with Sreeshanth though he has been called back to test team. personaly i am not in favor of him. arrogant fellow. but thanks again to BCCI he has been given a punishment.

The money beign pumped into this has left certain companies make lower profit(vodafone is an example), they would justify its long term investment, but convincing shareholders is a different ball game.

Before i end this long circular flow of thoughts just consider this; I always believe that we should try to be the best at what we start. but the jinx seems to continue, English has never won the world cup, Aussies poor run @ t20 continues and us The original IPL people failed to make into the last 4 teams of the world T20 held recently despite being in home conditions. yes we cannot always hope to win but loose without a fight is not really a nice things...

I have always compared IPL to EPL and hence i belive more countries would take up this game, more revenue should be generated but if one observes the game of football has not been diluted by film stars, cheerleaders etc. If we ever come to time when you need half dressed people, dj's and whole lot of tinsel town people to keep audience to watch a game well we need to think about it once again.

SPORTS IS AN ENTERTAINMENT ON ITS OWN..WE DO NOT NEED TO ADD ANY MORE 'ENTERTAINMENT' TO IT

DO NOT KILL THE GOOSE THAT LAYS THE GOLDEN EGG !!

IPL--INDIA'S PRIZED LEAGUE

Let me tell you a story of a young man who makes juices on the roadside in Chennai. his name is Murugan who makes sugar cane juice near the marina beach for a living. I had been to Chennai several times the last time being on march 6th. he has an interesting story for me.I casually ask him what his daily income would be and he said around 500 rs mind you, he charges 10 per glass of sugar cane juice. he said he is waiting for the cricket season to start.He does not know its called IPl. He just says that last year April -may there was lots of cricket matches and he has not seen so many people coming regularly. {HE Sold sugar cane juice outside the stadium}

Many may feel IPL is good,for some its a waste of time and for few others it does not matter.But i have a confession to make. I was not a great enthusiast of IPL. I had my own views;But it all changed after meeting Murugan.

Yes the bosses of IPL and the Cricketers are making millions at the same time people like Murugan make a living. For a change lets look at IPL as a source of income. Consider this.
IPL generates income for the following people: {what i can observe}

1. Sweepers who clean the stadiums day in and day out. {usually a match happens and the stadium is forgotten for a year.}
2. Boys and Men who prepare the pitches.
3. Small scale units which makes the posters/pamphlets etc.. {also the people who distribute em}
4. printing shops who make the huge banners
5. House hold industries that manufacture those semi-circle caps with rubber bands.
6. Companies that make similar kind of t shirts {same color texture ET AL.}
7. people like Murugan who makes juice and similar kind of people who sell juices, water bottles, eatables etc.

On a better and less visible scale.

1. Transport companies who move the teams around {their drivers cleaners mechanics do benefit}
2. Hotel industry {ya agreed its the Taj and like wise.. but still }
3. The broadcasting/coverage team { the equipments weigh loads and so they have loads of helpers,local technicians, electricians,people who assist the cameramen etc.
4. the banks and other commercial establishment that sells the tickets merchandise etc.
5. Companies that make the the boundary advt boards and its the local carpenters and others who assemble them.
6. HEY ENOUGH ..JUST IMAGINE HOW MANY MORE..

IPL is boon for many.. lets see it as an employment opportunity for thousands of common people { I am leaving out the team managers, organizers,various associated staff as they are better called white collar jobs..ya but IT COUNTS>>} whenever such huge carnivals/circus (as many refer to it) happens.

Idiotic premier League , International Premier league and what not..

FOR ME ITS SHINING INDIA'S GIFT FOR THE NOT SO SHINING INDIANS.

JAI HIND