INTRODUCTION

CRICKET:

Cricket has been one of the sport which has witnessed immense popularity globally recently. It’s

the only sport which has 3 different formats i.e Tests, One Day Internationals & T-20

Internationals. Increasing popularity of T-20 format game led to birth of a new era of T-20

leagues which has different players from different nations competing for their clubs. 

Latest cricket info is this that these T-20 leagues are over shadowing the other 2 formats of the

game. Big prizes, glamour and quick time consumption has changed the whole scenario of the

game. Cricket update from news channels and other media channels has seen diverting their

news cricket updates to T-20 format of the game.

ICC has been trying its level best to retain the gentleman spirit of the game by equally

publicizing the test and one-day international formats of the game. Countries like India,

Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies and England have their own T-20

leagues championships. Today cricket news usually includes such cricket info either a player has

been transferred to another club or has been bought with hefty amounts.

 Players like Chris Gayle, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and many other players have been topped all

the cricket updates in today cricket news all over the globe. IPLCricketNews.com is one of top

leading cricketing sites which share such kind of cricket news. Stay tuned for more updates

ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN CRICKET:

Town criers probably carried the first cricket scores from village to village in Elizabethan times.

Fast-forward a few centuries to the modern game's international status. It is fully professional at

the top level and the media play many roles, informing, promoting and criticizing. The sport and

the accompanying media enjoy a close and complementary relationship.

Multimedia

Newspaper, radio and television commentators traditionally took different roles. Now a

single commentator can represent all three in one day; giving, for example, a few 20-

minute radio stints, a short appearance on television to comment and writing a newspaper

column to sum up the day's play.

Newspapers

Newspapers, before radio, had the field to themselves. Major papers in cricketing nations,

which brought out several editions per day, would have the latest scores and be first with

the news. Some of the finest writing in any paper or magazine still appears in the cricket

section. For example, Sir Neville Cardus (1888-1975) of The Guardian combined music

and cricket writing throughout his long career. He showed that the cricket media's roles

were like those for theater arts, "to teach and to delight" (Aristotle).

Radio and Television

Radio comes into its own in longer games. A test match between countries can last five

days, not counting breaks. Few fans will spend all that time watching the game on

television but will have an ear on the commentary while, for example, driving, fishing or

painting the house.

Most newcomers see their first game of cricket on television. So the commentator must

keep remarks easily understood by novices, without talking down to the rest. Most

television broadcasters are former top players and their anecdotes of their playing days

often enliven dull sections of play.

Advertising

Cricket is sponsorship-heavy. Every club knows the merit of good backing to keep

equipment up to date, travel costs down and the bar well-stocked. At representative level,

the advertising dollar or pound is even more vital. Clubs add sponsor's names to the

teams and trophies. And they ask the media to do the same. Most oblige and give the

sponsor a free plug when they mention, for example, "Solid Cement Jones College."

Repetition can become a mouthful; so a good rule is one mention and not in the first

paragraph.

Online

Your favorite game is as close as the computer toolbar. Having online coverage is like

working while listening to the game with the sound off. For example cricinfo.com gives

free ball-by-ball coverage of major matches. Fans can also subscribe to audio and video

broadband sites.

OBJECTIVES:

To know whether IPL gained popularity because of its players or media hype.

To know whether media gives equal importance to other news during IPL.

To understand public’s view on IPL.

To find out whether “IPL fever” is a healthy trend for the society.

CHAPTERISATION:

INTRODUCTION:

The main purpose of the introduction is to give a description of the problem that will be

addressed. In this section the researcher might discuss the nature of the research, the purpose of

the research, the significance of the research problem, and the research question(s) to be

addressed.

Three essential parts of a good introduction are:

rationale

purpose

research question(s)

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Literature review, which is a survey of important articles, books and other sources pertaining to

your research topic. Now, for the second main section of your research report you need to write a

summary of the main studies and research related to your topic. This review of the professional

literature relevant to your research question will help to contextualize, or frame, your research. It

will also give readers the necessary background to understand your research.

METHODOLOGY:

Methodology is generally a guideline system for solving a problem, with specific components

such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools. It can be defined also as follows:

1. "the analysis of the principles of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a

discipline";

2. "the systematic study of methods that are, can be, or have been applied within a

discipline";

3. the study or description of methods.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:

The process begins with a quick review of the results, followed by editing, analysis, and

reporting. To ensure you have accurate data before investing significant time in analysis, it is

important that you do not begin analyzing results until you have completed the review and

editing process.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS:

A conclusion is the last paragraph in your research paper, or the last part in any other type of

presentation. The thing is that research papers conclusion is not a mere repetition of the

information presented, it’s a general outline, a brief overview of the most important points of the

field studied.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE (IPL):

The BCCI launched the Indian Premier League (IPL) on the lines of football’s English

Premier League and the National Basketball League (NBA) of the U.S.

The IPL is a professional Twenty20 cricket league created and promoted by the BCCI and

backed by the ICC. The Twenty20 league is set to debut in April 2008, with eight teams

comprising a minimum of 16 players each. The league will last for 44 days and will involve 59

matches.

The IPL works on a franchise-system based on the American style of hiring players and

transfers. These franchises were put for auction, where the highest bidder won the rights to own

the team, representing each city. The auction for the same took place on January 24, 2008 and

the total base price for the auction was $400 million. The auction went on to fetch $723.59

million.

The Mumbai franchise owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was the

most expensive franchise - fetching $111.9 million closely followed by Vijay Mallya’s United

Breweries which paid $111.6 million for the Bangalore franchise. Media house Deccan

Chronicle won the Hyderabad chapter of the IPL for $107 million, while India Cements’

Chennai franchise cost $91 million.

Bollywood also made its presence felt with two of its leading stars bagging the ownership of

their respective teams - Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla’s Red Chillies Entertainment buying

out Kolkata for $75.09, while Preity Zinta and her beau Ness Wadia bought the Mohali team for

$76 million.

GMR , the infrastructure development group which who are involved in a project for revamping

the Delhi airport, bagged the ownership of the Delhi team for $84 million and the Emerging

Media , consisting of its CEO Fraser Castellino, Manoj Badale and Lachlan Murdoch and other

investors won the rights for the Jaipur franczhise for $67 million.

IPL TEAMS:

1) Bangalore Royal Challengers: The Bangalore team was bought by Vijay Mallya’s UB

Group for $111.6 million to own the team for 10 years. ‘Icon player’ Rahul Dravid is the captain

of Bangalore Royal Challengers. Team India’s bowling coach, Venkatesh Prasad is the coach of

the team.

2) Kings XI Punjab: The Mohali team was bought by Bollywood diva Preity Zinta, her

industrialist beau Ness Wadia, along with renowned industrialists Karan Paul and Mohit Burman

for $76 million for a period of 10 years. ‘Icon player’ Yuvraj Singh is the captain of Kings XI

Punjab. Australia’s Tom Moddy is the coach of the team.

3) Chennai Super Kings: The Chennai team was bought by India Cements for $91 million to

own the team for 10 years. Team India ODI and T20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the

captain of Chennai Super Kings. Former South Africa cricket team captain Kepler Wessels is the

coach of the team.

4) Kolkata Knight Riders: The Kolkata team is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan,

actress Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta for $75.09 million for a 10-year period. ‘Icon

player’ Sourav Ganguly is the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders. Australia’s John Buchanan is

the coach of the team.

5) Deccan Chargers: The Hyderabad team was bought by Deccan Chronicle, a media house, for

$107 million for a 10-year period. Team India’s Test player VVS Laxman is the captain of

Deccan Chargers. India’s fielding coach, Robin Singh is the coach of the team.

6) Mumbai Indians: The Mumbai team is owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries

Limited for $111.9 million for a period of 10 years. ‘Icon player’ Sachin Tendulkar is the captain

of Mumbai Indians. Former Team India manager, Lalchand Rajput is the coach of the team.

7) Delhi Daredevils: The Delhi team is owned by GMR Holdings for $84 million for a period of

10 years. ‘Icon player’ Virender Sehwag is the captain of Delhi Daredevils. Australia’s Greg

Shipperd is the coach of the team.

8)Rajasthan Royals: The Jaipur team was bought by UK-based company Emerging Media for

$67 million to own the team for a period of 10 years. Former Australian spin bowler Shane

Warne is both the captain and coach of Rajasthan Royals.

MORE ABOUT IPL:

* Title Sponsorship Rights: On February 13 2008, Indian real estate developer DLF Universal

secured exclusive rights to the IPL title sponsorship worth Rs 200 crore (over $50 million) for

five years.

* Television Rights: On January 14 2008, it was announced that a consortium consisting of

India’s Sony Television network and Singapore-based World Sports Group secured the rights of

the IPL. The record deal has a duration of ten years at a cost of $1.026 billion.

* On February 20 2008 , the auction of 77 players took place in Mumbai. Team India ODI and

Twenty20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds emerged

the costliest Indian and overseas players respectively.

* Each team will play the other seven teams home and away, the top four teams at the end of the

group stages will proceed through to the semi-finals. The first match is slated for April 18

between Team Bangalore and Team Kolkata.

* Team Composition: All teams must have at least four players from their respective Catchment

Areas and four Under-22 players. The players from Catchment Areas could be an iconic player, a

Ranji player or an U-22 player.

Each team can buy a maximum of eight overseas players but only four would be able to take the

field in a match.

MEDIA COVERAGE OF IPL:

Twitter third most popular medium for IPL discussions: Nielsen study

Blogs, followed by message boards, are the leading social media platforms for IPL related discussions in the last three months

Micro blogging website, Twitter.com, is the third most popular platform for IPL-related

discussions in the social media space, reveals The Nielsen Company, which has used its Online

BuzzMetrics technology to measure the buzz around IPL on social media sites. As per the

survey, blogs and message boards, respectively, are the top two social media platforms for IPL-

related discussions.

According to comScore, Twitter.com received about 2 million unique visitors in January 2010.

Online BuzzMetrics crawls numerous consumer generated media sites -- blogs, message boards

and discussion groups and Twitter.com -- on the internet, to gauge the buzz around any brand or

issue. The Nielsen Company has, however, not included Facebook in the measurement of buzz

related to IPL.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has been the most discussed team online, both in 2009 and 2010.

Kings XI Punjab is the second most discussed team, followed by Deccan Chargers, in social

media in 2010.

In the second season of IPL, a blog named Fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com -- written by an

anonymous blogger, who claims to be a member of the Kolkata Knight Riders team -- became

popular.

Interestingly, the study points out that the blog was the fifth most talked about name related to

KKR in the social media space in 2009. Shah Rukh Khan followed by Sourav Ganguly, Brenden

McCullum and Ajit Agarkar were the most discussed names within KKR, in relation to IPL

discussions globally.

Ricky Ponting is the most discussed IPL player, followed by Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and

Virender Sehwag, respectively.

"It might be surprising that Ricky Ponting is the most discussed IPL player online. This is

because cricket fans either love or hate Punter, but seldom ignore him. Also, message boards are

very active in Australia, and Ponting is the most widely discussed player there," says Karthik

Nagarajan, associate director, Nielsen Online, The Nielsen Company.

"We have discovered that about 40 per cent of discussions on social media during the IPL

players' auction this year were centred on Pakistan's cricket players," Nagarajan tells afaqs!.

Popularity of the game:

IPL has shifted the viewership pattern of cricket as share of women, kids and younger audience

increased over other formats. In India, top five states for IPL viewership were Gujarat, West

Bengal, MP, UP and Delhi and the most popular teams were Delhi Daredevils, Royal

Challengers, Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers.

In Pakistan the reception was said to be massive, suggesting that it attracted even non-regular

cricket followers. With the right mix of cricket and glamour, the high-octane drama, at one stage,

seemed to be threatening Bollywood's popularity across the border.

A similar positive reaction was seen in Sri Lanka, with interest in the Mumbai Indians being

large due to the presence of Sanath Jayasuriya. Bangladesh has also reacted positively and with

more players being drawn in the loop, the popularity will only grow.

South Africa saw a moderate viewership in the first edition but after hosting the second edition,

There was 680% increase in the viewership.

In the West Indies, the IPL became so popular that it threatened to overtake Test cricket

completely among certain sections of fans. However, the event was less popular in Australia and

in New Zealand it consistently won its free-to-air timeslot.

Its popularity was capitalized by the sponsors. According to an independent study conducted by

Repucom research, there was 310% increase in Sponsor value.

Thus the game has really been influential to the world. The South African govt. readily

welcomed the event when the Indian Government could not assure proper security cover the

matches that would have been played during poll days and the management decided to shift it to

a foreign location.

Shahrukh Khan and His Contribution

One can guess the popularity of the game when it is said that advertisers are ready to pay more

for the AD spots during the matches being played. The second session of IPL is being played in

South Africa in different locations. There are different teams in the IPL but the popularity and

the most glamorous team of them is the Kolkata Knight Riders. This is a team owned by

Superstar Shahrukh Khan, the reigning king of Bollywood and his company called Red Chilles

Entertainment. He has tried all his best to take the popularity of the game to the next level.

Though in both the sessions his team could not make that mark, but a lot of credit is given by all

sections to the owner, Mr. Khan for adding glamour and attention to IPL. He has been first to

display the dresses, music videos and then organizing a TV show to choose Indian Cheer Leaders

in the IPL.

Besides the star power the team squads too good to see. Almost all the teams of the IPL do have

players from almost all countries and this indirectly creates a kind of boding between players that

other form of crickets failed. There was sportsmanship too before IPL, but those forms of cricket

could not create the chemistry that IPL could create between players.

The popularity of IPL has been massive across all cricket loving nations and the shift of the

event to South Africa has enabled the sport to earn more media and world attention. The game

has really been influential to the world. The South African govt. readily welcomed the event

when the Indian Government could not assure proper security cover the matches that would have

been played during poll days and the management decided to shift it to a foreign location.

IPL teams take rivalry off the field to social media sites:

 The rivalry between IPL teams is spilling over to the social media platform ahead of the

season five of the T20 league as they intensify campaigns to drum up support of fans

through sites like Facebook and Twitter.

With the social networking sites providing the opportunity to fans to interact with their star

players, teams like Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are leaving no

stone unturned to exploit the opportunity to add more supporters.

"Social media is one of the most important tools and an integral part of any team to reach out to

the fans now. We have been stagnant for the past four years but this year we have really

activated it," Delhi Daredevils Head of Marketing and Commercial Hemant Dua told PTI.

He said from just about 30,000 fans on Facebook for the past four years, Delhi Daredevils has

increased it to 2,30,000 in the last few months.

"We have been holding a lot of contests for the fans, like designing the mascot for the team, and

it has helped," Dua said, adding this year three fans will be selected through a contest to travel

with the team to report on the team's off-field activities.

Similarly, Chennai Super Kings has touched over seven lakh followers on its Facebook page

over the past two months from just 40,000 earlier following intensified campaign to utilise the

social media platform.

"What we have done is assign different roles to different sites. For instance we are using Twitter

for news related to the team, while Facebook has been used as platform for interaction.

Also we are using different activities involving fans, including contests," India Cements general

Manager Marketing Chandrabhan said. India Cements own the Chennai Super Kings.

Likewise, Mumbai Indians has also kicked off ‘Players Become Friends’ campaign designed to

increase the interaction between the players and the fans in the digital space.

"This year our focus is completely on digital media. We will be having a new TV commercial

and ground promotions for IPL 5 but the main thrust is to capitalise on the social platform to

reach out to Mumbai Indians fans and make them feel as an integral part of the team," a Mumbai

Indian spokesman said.

Mumbai Indians have nearly 2.5 million followers on Facebook fan page ‘MI Paltan’, he said,

adding the aim of the campaign is to encourage them engaging with the players rather than being

mere spectators.

The team is also using personalised video messages from Mumbai Indians players, including

Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh, as part of the ‘Players Become Friends’ social media

campaign that will carried out on out-of-home and radio along with TV, he added.

While the teams are reluctant to share their spendings on the social media campaigns, Dua of

Delhi Daredevils said:"Our spending on digital media has definitely increased, to almost double

but it is all about spending judiciously and trying to make the right connect with the fans."

We don’t want players to miss IPL, says Sahara

Mumbai: Sahara Group chief Subroto Roy on Saturday defended the decision to snap ties with

the BCCI but wants to ensure that the players of his IPL team do not suffer and get to play in the

fifth edition of the Twenty20 league.

Roy said he is willing to negotitiate with the BCCI to find a way out for his players’

participation.

“To that extent I am flexible. I don’t want my players to suffer and miss playing in IPL. I do not

want to deprive my players. I am willing to sit across the table with BCCI officials and sort out

the issue. I don’t want to get into any legal battles,” Roy said at a press conference.

Early in the day, Sahara Group announced that it was ending its sponsorship of the Indian team

and pulling out of IPL.

He said he would tell the Cricket Board to look out for corporates to buy his team.

“It’s upto the IPL Governing Council. Money is no issue. I will pay the players the full amount,”

he said. “There were so many genuine things we had but they (BCCI) did not give heed to such a

small thing like opening the bid. They did not open the bid on a technicality (when Sahara had

submitted its bid for the first time in 2008). Rules were broken for other teams but we were not

given natural justice,” he said.

Roy also denied that the current poor run of the Indian team had anything to do with Sahara’s

decision to end its ties with BCCI.

“In our 11-year-long relationship the Indian team has gone through such phases. In fact it’s in the

Tests that the team is not performing well,” said Roy, adding that he had spoken to BCCI

President N Srinivasan on Friday before taking the decision this morning.

“I spoke to the BCCI President last night and told him that unless they heed to our request to

increase the purse during today’s players auction in Bangalore to make up for the non-

availability of sick Yuvraj Singh, we will have to part ways. I waited till today morning before

announcing the decision. It’s not Yuvraj alone, but a sequence of events,” Roy said. Roy was

also critical of the IPL’s decision last year, after the sale of two more franchise outfits – Pune

Warriors and the now defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala, not to go for an open auction. “It should

have been done last year. Two top players in each team (the original eight outfits) had been

retained and thus 16 top players were unavailable at the auction. It was not a level playing field.

One or two weak teams will affect the quality of the tournament.

“We wanted one extra foreign player (to level the field), but it was not allowed. When one of the

franchises (Mumbai Indians) faced a problem with injuries they were allowed to field on extra

foreign player (in last year’s Champions T20 League). I applauded that ruling. It should have

been that way all along,” he explained. (PTI)

METHODOLOGY

What is research?

Research is an art of scientific investigation. It is actually a voyage of discovery. The

inquisitiveness is the mother of all knowledge and the method, which man employs for obtaining

the knowledge of whatever the unknown, can be termed as research.

Definition:

D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences: define research as “the

manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalising to extend, correct or

verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an

art.”

Sample:

A sample is a small subset of the population that has been chosen to be studied (1,2). The sample

should represent the population and have sufficient size so a given innovative orthosis or

prosthesis can be subjected to a fair statistical analysis.

Sample size:

Sample size is the number of observations or replicates to include in a statistical sample. The

sample size is an important feature of any empirical study in which the goal is to make

inferences about a population from a sample.

Sampling is the process of selecting units (e.g., people, organizations) from a population of

interest so that by studying the sample we may fairly generalize our results back to the

population from which they were chosen.

WORKING HYPOTHESIS:

In the recent years, IPL has gained much publicity. There is always a notion that cricket has been

given more importance than other sports. Even I feel that this new series has swayed the public

and is purely because of the hype given by media. IPL is emerging as a trendsetter with the

English players being auctioned for local teams and everyone likes to keep them updated about

it. Players do not feel the importance because they are not playing for their country. According to

me, if BCCI introduces new series in cricket, other sports will take a back seat and would be

considered least important.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1. Do you watch IPL?

Yes No Sometimes0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

77%

13%10%

2. When IPL is going on, do you think media gives more importance to it?

Yes No0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%92%

8%

3. Do you think this amount of hype by media is necessary for IPL?

Yes No0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

35%

65%

4. Is this (media hype of IPL) an encouragement for young cricketers?

Yes No Not always0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

43%

48%

9%

5. Does IPL affect other sports?

Yes No0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%74%

26%

6. Do you think the players take IPL seriously?

Yes No0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

28%

72%

7. Is celebrity support necessary for IPL?

Yes No0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

21%

79%

CONCLUSION:

From this research, its brings to notice that many keep themselves updated about IPL and it is

also seen that the public feels media gives more importance to this series than news and sports.

Less than half of them think media hype for IPL boosts energy for young cricketers and many

believe that this series affects other sports badly because they are not given importance. Players

do not get involved and they play for the sake of playing. Celebrity support is more and

unnecessary for this game was the response from the public.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

The game of cricket has a known history spanning from the 16th century to the present day, with

international matches played since 1844, although the official history of international Test

cricket began in 1877. During this time, the game developed from its origins in England into a

game which is now played professionally in most of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The Indian Premier League, created by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and

sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC), is a Twenty20 cricket competition.

Today, t20 cricket is the hottest sensation of cricketing world. People like it so much because of

short time span.

My working hypothesis and the survey conducted for the same explains that media plays a very

important role in publicizing any event or news. Thus T20 or IPL has gained much score among

the public. IPL is more an entertainment than a sport was the feedback I got during my study.

Media should be more responsible in bringing out other sports like hockey which is said to be

our national sport. Though few of them feel that media hype encourages young cricketers, they

should understand the fact that other sport players must also be encouraged in the same way.

And the money invested in huge amounts for auctioning players is only an extra advantage for

them since they don’t take this as seriously as the ODI ( One Day International) since they are

not playing for their country.

REFERENCES AND NOTES

http://leisure.ezinemark.com/massive-popularity-of-ipl-t20-cricket-7d34c280aedd.html

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kris/Desktop/research-IPL/Growing%20Popularity%20of%20T-20%20Cricket%20-%20IPL%202012%20_%20IPL%205%20_%20IPL%20News%C2%A0_%C2%A0IPL%202012%20_%20IPL%205%20_%20IPL%20News.htm

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kris/Desktop/research-IPL/socio%20economic%20media-ipl.htm

APPENDICES

QUESTIONNAIRE:

POPULARITY OF IPL - MEDIA OR REPUTED PLAYERS?

1. Do you watch IPL?

2. When IPL is going on, do you think media gives more importance to it?

3. Do you think this amount of hype by media is necessary for IPL?

4. Is this (media hype of IPL) an encouragement for young cricketers?

5. Does IPL affect other sports?

6. Do you think the players take IPL seriously?

7. Is celebrity support necessary for this sport?

Mumbai Indians win on social media polls

May 31, 2011 at 12:05 PM

In a recent survey conducted by NM Incite, a Nielsen McKinsey company, Mukesh Ambani

owned Mumbai Indians IPL franchise has garnered maximum support across social media

platforms and was the most likely team to bag the title of IPL 4.

Although Mumbai Indians lost out in the semi-finals, the team was able to gather maximum

support throughout the fourth season of Indian Premier League (IPL) which ended on Sunday

28th of May. Sachin Tendulkar emerged as one of the top most discussed players, alongside M S

Dhoni and Chris Gayle.

This time around, IPL saw teams and brands creating an online presence in an effort to engage

the digital consumer with the matches more effectively. The report was calculated by analyzing

data collected by monitoring social media channels from the beginning of the tournament till

May 13th. Social media have become crucial elements of modern day life, and marketing on

these platforms has become increasingly popular. Monitoring social networking hubs like blogs,

forums, Facebook and Twitter gave an insight into how brands (players, teams and companies)

were gaining on popularity charts with respect to the season and how it has it affected their

marketing strategies. While Facebook featured many question polls on likely winners, favorite

teams, favorite players and so on, Twitter buzzed with trending IPL topics. Blogs and discussion

forums saw digital consumer come out in great numbers to discuss the game, the players and

various brands that happened to be featured throughout the season. Mumbai Indians emerged as

the most talked about team, as communities in its name roused with discussion throughout the

season, followed by team RCB and team CSK.

Co-owned by Nita Ambani, Mumbai Indians are one of the strongest brands in the IPL today.

Led by the dynamic Sachin Tendulkar, the team boasts of many fine players, including

Harbhajan Singh, Andrew Symonds, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga and Munaf Patel.

Socio-Economic Impact of IPL

The Indian Premier League (IPL) marks an epoch in Indian sports and entertainment industry.

This short and exciting form of cricket has received immense popularity and unmatched revenue

as compared to any other event in India. The success of IPL is truly highlighted by investors

willing to shell out hundreds of millions of dollars to own an IPL franchise as well as advertisers

rushing to book airtime. The league’s brand value has already more than doubled since its

inception; the brand value of the franchises also continues to rise steadily. IPL has been a

profitable venture to all the investors associated with it. This report seeks to analyze the socio-

economic impact of the league. The report begins by introducing the business of cricket in India

and further highlights the inception of IPL. We have then analyzed the impact of the league on

various industries as well as in job creation; followed by its impact on the sportsmen, the fans

and on other sports in the country. The conclusion reached is that the IPL while performing

admirably on the economic front has yet to engage itself sufficiently towards social causes.

How the IPL Has Changed Cricket Forever

The IPL has, in many ways, shone the light on some long-standing contradictions within the

sport of cricket. In other ways, it has brought to the table yet more contradictions for the sport to

face. It is unclear at this juncture, so early in the day, if and how cricket – as we know it – will

survive.

Consider, for instance, the struggle cricket has maintained with its identity for the last

generation. As sports leagues all over the world have increasingly turned to becoming

entertainment industries in addition to fora for athletic prowess, cricket has continuned to wage

its battle with its inherent limitations: a game that only nine or ten nations play at a somewhat

competent level (and, yes, for the moment I’m including Pakistan though Lord knows I probably

shouldn’t), and one which elicits a curious indifference and at times contempt from the rest of

the world. Not only do they not understand it, they do not care to understand it. Anyone who has

ever had a conversation about cricket with American or French people knows exactly what I’m

talking about. And honestly, can you blame them? If you didn’t grow up on it, would you watch

a sport which is incredibly complicated, difficult to follow, has nebulous regulations, lasts an

extraordinarily long time, and is limited to certain regions of the world?

Despite these constraints, the rulers of cricket – and that is what they are, the ICC – have made

every effort to cross these hurdles. They’ve attempted to expand the game by playing

meaningless one-dayers in Toronto, Sharjah, and Singapore; where, of course, only the Indian,

Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi expatriates come to watch, thus defeating the purpose of

the expansion. They’ve tinkered with rules and regulations, trying to make the game look more

familiar to that 4-minute-mile of markets, the U.S. (remember the substitutes in ODIs?), and in

the process turned real fans against it. They’ve sent money and set up academies in places as far

flung as Uganda and Holland, who treat cricket the way I treat roasted duck: suspicously, and

with no more interaction than a poke and a prod.

For their effort, they cannot be faulted. The ICC sees football expanding at an alarming rate; it

sees world-class tennis players from that hotbed of racquet-mania, Thailand; it sees DVD players

and home entertainment systems and downloadable TV shows and iPods and wonders to itself:

who will watch cricket in twenty years? You have to concede the point – they’re in a bind. And

nothing has brought this bind to the casual fan’s attention more than Twenty-20: where the hell,

he asks, has this been all my life? Why bother with that five-days nonsense when I can go with

my kids and missus at 6 and be back before granny goes to bed? Floodlights, barbeques,

cheerleaders, music, the whole enchilada – Twenty-20 brings people to the game who never

would have watched it otherwise. And tragically, it reminds cricket adminsitrators as much of

their broader failings as it does their narrow success. Imagine a low-IQ, unattractive kid with

little athletic ability in high school who is great at playing the piano or cello. That’s what the ICC

feels like.

This is cricket’s primary contradiction – an international sport that’s not actually global – and

Twenty-20 has made it all the more obvious. But there is another contradiction that we have to

consider, one that has been actually brought upon by the introduction of Twenty-20 and

specifically the IPL. And that is the misalignment of players’ and stakeholders’ incentives.

The point is made clearer by a few examples. Consider football. Almost all footballers dream to

play club football in Europe, and occasionally for their country. FIFA also wants almost all top

footballers to play club football in Europe, and occasionally for their country. The football-

covering media and fans also want almost all top footballers to play club football in Europe, and

occasionally play for their country. The players and stakeholders, then, agree on what is to be

done. This is not to say that everyone gets along. Contentious issues are common – but these are

more along the lines of “how?” than “what?”. Players and governing boards will disagree on the

extent of club vs. country, on salaries, on transfer fees and the like. But the players’ incentives

match up, broadly speaking, with everyone else’s.

IPL fever in Bangalore

TNN Apr 16, 2011, 12.31am IST

Andrew Symonds

(Manoviraj Khosla)

It's IPL season and, as usual, the city is abuzz with parties following the matches. The Signature

party presented by Karbonn made sure that guests got to party with the bold and the beautiful.

First, the Bangalore IPL team's cheerleaders took the stage and gave everyone a taste of their

routine. Next up was a fashion show by Manoviraj Khosla, which got everyone ooh-ing and aah-

ing. In between, everyone chatted about the matches they had watched that day, and, of course,

all the action they had caught on the ramp.

Engineering colleges gripped by IPL fever

NITIE engineering college to organise cricket tournament on lines of cash-rich IPL;

Students buy six teams for Rs 1.56 lakh at auction

As testimony to our city's obsession with the Indian Premier League (IPL), students from a

prominent engineering college have embarked on a journey of organising their own version of

the IPL. Students, in their mid-20s, from NITIE College, Powai have christened their version as

NPL (NITIE Premier League).

By: Kranti

Vibhute

 

Date:  2012-02-

25

 

Place: Mumbai

Bowled over: The NPL committee comprising of 12 members will

select players for the six teams today. The players are all geared up

to play the tournament to be held during March 1-6

Six teams -- Kolkata Krushers, Delhi Dashers, Mumbai Monks, Chennai United, Bangalore

Falcons and Rajasthan Warriors -- were up for auction yesterday. A total of 9 cartels comprising

of four students each bid a total of Rs 1,56,500 for the teams. Out of the nine bidders, six were

successful. But what is intriguing is that students funnelled resources from their pockets to buy a

team.

"We initially decided that we will invest Rs 15,000 in the bid, but we went out of our way to buy

the Delhi team. We have purchased the team from the money we earned during our summer

internship," said Varun Saxena, owner of the Delhi Dashers team.

Scheduled for March 1-6, the organising committee, comprising of 12 members, has invited

players from other business schools in the city to participate, whom they will tag as foreign

players. Players who will be tagged as corporate players from companies like McAfee, Deloitte

and TCS have also been invited. 

 "The NPL is the first of its kind among the B-school fraternity, where students bid, buy and

control teams. It also involves realistic bidding of players. Management and sports have been

taken to a whole new level by involving corporates and students in the right tandem," said Ishan

Hazra, founder of NPL and NPL committee member.

With bidding at the auction for players scheduled for today, Neha Singh, NPL committee

member, said, "Rs 6 lakh that has been set aside as virtual money will be given to the team

owners today to buy players."