The Hindu Business Line : IPL financial dynamics on sticky wicket?

Mumbai, March 22 Shifting the venue of the IPL in its second season to another country will queer the pitch for the fledging tournament in terms of the financial dynamics.

Being a nascent concept, taking it to a country where the Twenty20 format is already quite popular will not exactly help it, till such time it evolves as a successful venture within the country, claim industry observers.

“Today it should be termed as the International Premier League and not the Indian Premier League as the dynamics of its DNA will undergo a change. IPL will loose its sting if it goes abroad,” says Mr Shailendra Singh, Joint MD, Percept Holdings.

Foreign shores

There is a speculation that the matches scheduled next month would be played in any of the cricket-playing nations such as South Africa and the UK.

“Being a new concept, it is too soon for it to be taken abroad as it would lead to a change in its financial re-structuring. Besides it will never get the kind of fan following that it has in India currently,” adds Mr Singh.

The official broadcaster would also suffer as it would lose out on the ground sponsorship rights, and advertisers and sponsors would try to take advantage of the changed venues.

“Cracks have appeared within the IPL and advertisers will now work out discounts and restructure their pricing and negotiations will get more fierce,” says Mr Singh.

The ad rates for a 10-second slot hovers between Rs 3.5 lakh and Rs 4 lakh for the official broadcaster.

However, several people who would have watched the matches at the stadiums will now watch them on television. This could lead to more TRPs for the official channel (Max) and turn the tables on the advertisers trying to rework the ad rates. On-ground advertisers and sponsors will be impacted but MNC spenders, like Coke and Pepsi, are not likely to retreat.

“While there will be an impact on ground activity, the traditionally big spenders will be there. However, some local brands and clients might back out. The business model for IPL will get complicated and might fall apart as costs go up,” observes Mr Anand Yalvigi, GM of Havas Sports India.

Filling the stadiums overseas during the matches might be difficult.

“The IPL matches will not be that exciting and it will be difficult to motivate people to rally behind this unknown league. The franchisees may not be able to get enough revenues from ticket sales,” claims Mr Mahesh Ranka, GM Relay Worldwide, a division of Starcom.