IPL Enters Adulthood: A Resounding Success Story
It is as though yesterday that a flower called IPL bloomed out and spread its petals all over, attracting crowds as bees to swarm together and relish the sweet nectar. March 22 will mark the 18th birthday of this frenzy called the Indian Premier League, which began as a brainchild in 2008 under Lalit Modi’s vision.
With an array of sixes stroked all over Chinnaswamy Stadium on the opening night seventeen years ago, the most-followed cricket league would embrace adulthood when the fireworks whip into Kolkata skies on Saturday.
Like exhausted but relieved parents, the league’s swarming audience would sigh, “how time flies” and marvel at the fully formed specimen imposing on cricket’s landscape. And probably poke their touch-screen phones to make changes in their fantasy teams.
The initial resistors have turned aficionados as the years passed by. There is a clear steer away from the traditional cricket-watching audience. As much as 43 percent of the cricket audience is made up of the women folk, as per an Indian Express report.
The cricket world has gradually moved to the IPL-verse and the yearly calendar by ICC is devised keeping the two-month odd schedule into consideration. IPL has lived the life of an adult for most of its existence, and on the approaching eve of the 18th year, it radiates the glow of a dynamic heir assured of his future inheritance.
The primary season for its astounding success is the hybrid model of blending different worlds of sports, entertainment and business without intruding too much into the other’s domain. Entertainment has not diluted the sport, just as sport has not been an impediment to the business. Everything has co-exited with mutual harmony until now.
The league has been a levelling constant despite the change of weather, governments, political turmoil, economic imbalances and even the fatal pandemic for that matter. It thrives in popular culture and somehow finds a way to enter into our everyday conversations.
As a phenomenon, IPL every year manages to disperse the soap serials eras on viewership scale and compels film producers to not release big budget films during the IPL window. In essence, IPL defines the Indian summer period.
As a sporting league, it caters to the underlying ideals of heroism and popularity of Indians. Without a doubt, no cultural product unites India as strongly as IPL does. This unique T20 format concept was designed specifically to attract sponsors, brand advertisers, transform traditional cricket to billboard magic and utilize the opportunity to sell whatever can be sold.
The league’s brand value is estimated at $ 3.4 billion by Houlihan Lokey’s 2024 IPL Valuation Study. The costliest franchise out of the ten participating teams is Reliance owned Mumbai Indians, worth $ 1.3 billion, which is more than Inter Miami FC, the most expensive of all MLS teams.
What’s flabbergasting to note is that a league Jasprit Bumrah turns up for 10 weeks is more expensive than the one Lionel Messi appears for ten months a year. Such is the charm of this cricket tournament, which has players from all corners registering to secure a deal and accelerate their career.
My Perspective:
In my opinion, being the second richest television sport after the NFL, IPL is actually not so popular in foreign countries, yet the monetary value remains huge owing to the craze and value around it.
Termed as the most commercially viable cricketing venture, this platform called IPL has put unpolished gems on the forefront, unearthed raw talent and transported them into mainstream cricketing foray. Players like Suryakumar Yadav, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson would have been toiling in their alternate career paths if not for this league.
Lalit Modi’s brainchild garnered a whopping INR 645 crore and a profit of INR 51 crore after disbursing the outstanding dues in the inaugural season. The concept of bringing in marquee players in IPL for every team was a masterstroke idea.
VVS Laxman for Deccan Chargers, Sourav Ganguly for Kolkata Knight Riders, Shane Warne for Rajasthan Royals, Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians, Virender Sehwag for Delhi Daredevils and others created a memorable legacy.
As the most powerful and enigmatic league presently, with the whole youth lined up ahead, happy 18 to IPL; even though it really feels as though it were born yesterday. Catch your favourite team sweat it out from March 22 onwards, with all matches available for live viewership on Jio Hotstar and Star Sports network.
By: Tulika Agarwal
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