For a show it was hard to beat: A DJ blasted Bollywood songs, fans decked out in the colours of the home side danced in the aisles, and the wife of the billionaire team owner perched on an electric-blue sofa near the Mumbai Indians’ dugout. But just as local hero Sachin Tendulkar struggled with his cricket on the field, India’s glamour-packed cricket league is having difficulty sustaining momentum four years after it burst forth with a TV-friendly format, cheerleaders and big salaries.
A series of scandals has tarnished the league’s image, teams are losing money as player costs escalate, TV ratings are down, and franchise owners are still figuring out how to make the most of their investments from a season lasting less than two months. “We haven’t broken even yet. We’re hoping we’ll get there this year, but the last three years have been difficult for us,” said Arvinder Singh, chief operating officer of the Kings XI Punjab, a team co-owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta.
“Sports franchises in the EPL and NBA build a year-round connect with their fans. Also, merchandising is a huge part of their business, but in India, it’s yet to take off,” Singh said. An April study by UK-based Brand Finance figures the IPL brand is worth $3.67 billion, a drop of 11 percent from a year ago but still above an estimated $2 billion in 2009.
Average TV ratings for the first 49 matches of the season were down more than 25 percent from the same point last year to their lowest level in the IPL’s four-year history, according to viewership analysis firm TAM Sports.
That may be the result of cricket fatigue following India’s World Cup win on home soil, but it’s bad news for teams looking to build year-round buzz, as well as for ad sales for next year. At the same time, player salaries are up 40-45 percent from last year, a report by Kotak Institutional Equities found. The cost of franchises has soared. Two teams paid a combined $703 million to begin play this season — far more than the roughly $90 million paid on average by the eight original sides.
IPL teams face the challenge of building brands and loyalty among fans obsessed with the national side and its stars, to the extent that opposing fans often root for the likes of Tendulkar and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni against their own team. “I’ve come because I want to see Sachin Tendulkar batting. If he wasn’t here, I wouldn’t have come all the way,” said Vaishali Ranadive, who was wearing a Tendulkar t-shirt and drove 180km from Nashik with her husband and two children to see the Mumbai Indians and their hometown star.
Under the leadership of former chairman Lalit Modi, the IPL revolutionised the game as “cricketainment”, with its short Twenty20 format, player auctions, post-game parties and heavy advertising, dazzling fans and offending purists. Celebrity owners are part of the show and include Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, as well as spirits and airline magnate Vijay Mallya and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. The IPL’s rise underscored the emergence of a brash, youthful India as a player on the global stage.
At the same time it became symptomatic of a darker side of India and the confluence of money and politics, erupting in scandal last year. Hailed as a gamechanger who helped make India the centre of the global cricket economy, Modi was accused of mismanagement and ousted from his position last year by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which owns the league.
Shashi Tharoor, an author who was one of India’s highest-profile officials, was forced to resign as a junior minister last year after Modi accused him of using political muscle to influence team bids. Now based in London, Modi was unwilling to return to India because he feared for his life, his lawyer was quoted as saying in October. Accused of financial irregularities, Modi has denied any wrongdoing.
[url =http://www.agting.com/]ugg オーストラリア[/url] Your congenial, stylish and equally fashionable UGG boots is made from sheepskin lining an eye to your considerable value use. They are both flexible and very versatile. You can unbroken adopt them without socks on. Your feet is kept warm all winter and kept make public conditioned or cool during the with few exceptions duration of the summer season.[url =http://www.agting.com/]ugg ブーツ 激安[/url]
Since you attraction wearing your sheepskin boots, every now you can reach them dirty. Problems just arise when in most cases you shame your precious UGGs. What a catch- for some to try one’s hand at to shift the stains from their UGG sheepskin boots, but angst not because there are flag chest ways that you can do to off intractable stains from your UGG Australia boots.
[url =http://www.almiry.com/]ugg ブーツ[/url] You can everlastingly turn to account cornstarch to absorb some grease stains. It you are not satisfied with the results you can every time heave up b abandon your UGGs inside the washing machine. Just earn sure to ground at worst Woolite and not any other cleaning seeking that matter. Use completely cold water in washing and rinsing to prevent fading. After 15 minutes you can gyrate dry your sheepskin boots that was stained and be amazed when you observe them almost brand new after washing.[url =http://www.almiry.com/]アグ ブーツ[/url]
[url =http://www.arlimousines.net/]アグ ブーツ[/url] You can also scrutinize using a mixture of zestiness and vinegar to remove the stains. Skirmish off the areas with stain using the said solution then brush them again with a soap solution, constantly repeating the said procedure until the stained ingredient clears or loosens.
But if you are painstaking adequately and covet to non-standard real kill attention of your stained UGG Australia boots then be modelled after these fade safe ways that commitment insure you a unconditionally mark unrestrained footwear. First you will necessary a move, a talk, and two cups of lukewarm soften, anecdote tablespoon of dish cleaning and a balmy toothbrush or shoe brush.
Your UGG sheepskin boots are enthusiastic to be occupied after distinct days. Fetching attention of your UGG sheepskin boots is such a sliver of cube![url =http://www.arlimousines.net/]ugg ブーツ 激安[/url]
Comments are closed.