There are a few T20 leagues going around these days. There is the IPL, the Big Bash from Australia, the Pakistan Super league, the Caribbean Premier League, the Bangladesh Premier league and South Africa’s Manzi League to name a few. While England has the county based T20 blast, England too will be migrating to a franchise based league with the advent of the ‘Hundred’ on the horizon.
Such a plethora of leagues, all with a similar concept of 6-8 franchisee teams playing against each other, having a mix of local and international talent plying their trade and yet, the IPL stands out. There are a few reasons which make it stand out among T20 leagues around the world.
The Concept
When it came about, there was nothing like it in the world of cricket. Sure there were T20 tournaments around the world at the time, but not a franchise based league. It certainly made it unique from the beginning. Corporations and Individuals owning a team was heard of in the US sports leagues and in European football leagues but nothing of the sort was known off in cricket. Then there were also new concepts like player auction, tags like icon players etc. There was a limit to the number of overseas players that could be part of the eleven at 4. While most leagues have the same concepts now, since IPL was the first, it was viewed as the ‘original’ and that has added to the uniqueness of the league.
The money involved
There is no question about it. The IPL is the richest league in terms of the money the league makes and the moneys the players involved make. There are at least 25 players who earn more than a million USD per year and 67 players who earn more than half a million dollars. To provide context, the salary cap for each team in the concluded BBL season was AUD 1.77 Million, to be divided among the entire squad. The highest paid cricketers in the PSL earn just over USD 550K, limited to 3 per side. Such is the sheer money strength of the IPL.
The sponsorship money is astronomical as well – Vivo the current title sponsor has paid Rs. 2199 crs (approx. 315 million USD) for a 5 year deal. This is much more than the 14.3 million USD paid for a 3 year rights for the PSL.
The telecast rights were similarly of very high value fetching the BCCI Rs. 16347 crs (approx2.3 Billion USD) over 5 years.
While this is the reason for the much higher salaries for the players as we saw above, it also results in better prize money and more money for all involved. For Instance, winners of IPL 2018 netted Rs. 20 crs while the runners up netted Rs. 10 crs. The other teams also get money depending on where they finish on the table.
Not just that, even the grounds which hosted matches got a kitty of Rs. 50 lakhs or 25 Lakhs depending on the number of games they hosted. The leading players of the tournament ( MVP, Purple cap holder, Orange Cap holder, emerging player) also net Rs. 10 lakhs.
Apart from the above, there is the sheer no. of awards after each match. Not just the player of the match award, there is also best hitter of the match, the best catch in the match, the stylish player of the match, the game changer of the match. The prize money for all these awards is Rs. 1 lakh which serves as good pocket money for the award winning player. No other league in the world is financially so rewarding.
Its not entirely surprising then that at the end of IPL 2018, each team earned a profit anywhere between 75 crs to 200 crs. The BCCI netted over Rs. 2000 Crs in surplus at the end of IPL 2018. It makes it viable for the franchises and the board alike.
This has also propelled the brand value of IPL to be estimated to be around 6.3 Billion USD.
The Standard of Play
Quite often we hear the players, the commentators and team officials and coaches saying that the standard of play of the IPL is just a notch below international standards. This is not hard to believe.
For starters, the starting eleven of each team at least as 3-4 players who are playing or have recently played international cricket for India – sample the playing eleven of any team and this will by and large be true. Not just teams of MI who have the likes of Rohit, Bumrah and Pandya or CSK who have Dhoni, Raina, Jadeja and Jadhav but even some of the sides which are not doing well have some very good Indian players – RCB, which after 10 games of the 2019 season occupies the bottom spot has the Indian Captain Virat Kohli in it and other Indian international players like Chahal and Umesh Yadav.
Each team also has the best of international players available – players who are touted as the among the best at the world stage and are integral cogs of their home country. Be it a Gayle, Miller or Tye of the KIXP or a Buttler, Stokes, Steve Smith or Jofra Archer for RR or even a Moen Ali, Marcus Stoinis and ABD for RCB not to forget Warner, Bairstow, Rashid Khan and Kane Williamson for SRH. These are internationals stars at the world stage, not just players who make up the numbers.
When each team has such players playing against each other, its but natural that the standard of play is in keeping with the quality of play. The level of batsmanship or bowling in display often leaves everyone amazed.
Some of the other leagues in the world do not have 4 foreign players and certainly do not have the best of the crop available. Leagues in Australia and England allow only 2 foreign players per playing eleven.
The IPL administrators also have that recognize sustained good performances from players. While most T20 leagues have a player of the series concept, the IPL also recognizes the highest run getter with an award, the Orange cap. It recognizes the highest wicket taker with the purple cap award. It recognizing emerging talent with the IPL emerging player of the season award and also has a stylish player of the season award for the player who has been most pleasing to watch during the tournament in the manner in which he has batted or bowled. There is also an award for the best catch of the season. The leader of the race to win the Orange/ Purple cap gets to wear a special cap of the same colour throughout the season and the wearer usually wears it with pride during the matches.
This concept of award for leading run getters and wicket takers has also been adopted by the PSL from its second season onwards.
The Window
The reason some of the other leagues are not able to field all of the best International stars or also the best cricketers from their own country is because they are simply not available to play. When the BBL or the PSL or the CPL takes place, it usually clashes with the international cricketing calendar. Nov – Jan (period of the BBL) is peak summer in the southern hemisphere so there is a lot of international cricket being played in South Africa , Australia and New Zealand at that time. Its also winter in the subcontinent at the time so teams do end up touring India/Pakistan/Bangladesh and Srilanka. The Feb – Mar period of the PSL also clashes with the international calendar for the above reasons. The CPL clashes with the English summer and thus players from England and teams touring there miss out, eg. The 2019 CPL will clash with the Ashes series in England thus no chance of the best players from those countries participating in the CPL. It is for the same reason that many England internationals are not able to play the England T20 blast.
The IPL is usually held during the Indian (subcontinental) summer when not much international cricket takes place on the subcontinent . Ideally, not a time to play cricket at all, but most games are night games. Its usually held during April – May time frame when its winter in the southern hemisphere and thus not cricket season there . Not much cricket (international cricket at least) is played in England too up to mid May thus even allowing for England players to participate. So, most players and crucially the best players from around the world are free to participate in the tournament.
There used to be clashes with international cricket in the early years of the IPL but as the IPL grew in size, market and importance, even the ICC recognized this and now there is a window in the ICC calendar for international cricket to accommodate the IPL leading to majority of the players to be involved for virtually the full tournament.
The fans
The IPL would not have been as successful, if not for the manner in which the fans lap it up, year after year. It’s the summer blockbuster event of the year. Being held at a time when most children are done with their school final exams and when the vacations are on usually in most parts of the country. The matches begin at 8 pm on weekdays making it easy for folks to either watch it from home or go to the stadium after a day at work. It is the highest attended T20 league in the world, ahead of the BBL in 2nd place. The average attendance per match hovers around the 30k mark making it the 6th most attended sports league in the world. It is also the most viewed T20 league in the world. Almost 450 million people tuned in to watch the 2018 IPL with 173 million viewers watching the 2018 final. These numbers are significantly higher when compared to other leagues.
The fan polls conducted live and online during the matches provide an interactive experience for the viewers. The fans also vote for their favourite catch of the season etc. This level of engagement with the fans of the game is unique to the IPL.
The owners
Apart from cricket, Indians are fascinated by Bollywood and Big Business families. Both are involved with the IPL in a big way. Almost all teams are owned by a combination of Big Business houses or business men like Mukesh Ambani ( MI), the Jindals and GMR group (DC), the Burmans (KIXP), the Sun network (SRH), India Cements ( CSK) or Bollywood personalities like SRK and Juhi Chawla ( KKR) Priety Zinta ( KIXP) and even Shilpa Shetty who was a former owner of RR. Not just this, it’s not uncommon to see other stars and film personalities at the matches often. This again is something unique to the IPL, when compared to other T20 leagues around the world. These are just not local business men but global leaders. Ambani one of the richest men in the world and United Spirits Limited (owner of RCB) is the second largest spirits company in the world by volume. SRK is one of the richest movie personalities in the world.
When the richest and most power people from the business and movie world are heavily invested in the IPL, it is bound to get the requisite attention.
The Miscellaneous reasons
Strategic Time outs – while this concept is not alien in sport, it was a first of its kind in cricket when introduced during the 2009 edition of the IPL. It was initially a 7.5 min break at the end of 10 overs of an innings but later modified to be two 2.5 min breaks during an innings. Obviously done for commercial reasons, the time outs are not very popular with the fans but will be persisted with.
Fan Parks – The 8 teams play across 10-12 stadiums in a year during a season which leaves many smaller towns and cities bereft of any live action. Thus to create a stadium like atmosphere in smaller towns, the IPL governing committee started to screen matches in big screens in school/college play grounds where the fans could come and watch the match among a few hundreds of people. This was started in 2015 and was instantly popular
After parties – while these have been stopped now, in the initial years, matches played during the IPL were followed by after parties usually thrown by the hosting franchise where players and celebrities used to mingle. Thankfully people realized this was not the best idea and these have been stopped.
These are few of the reasons which make the IPL different from other T20 leagues going around.
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