Can’t get Bigger than IPL

The Big Bash is all set to become bigger, better and jazzier, but can it upstage a behemoth like the Indian Premier League (IPL)? Yes, the image of our billion-dollar has taken a beating of late, but isn’t the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) doing everything it can to set the house in order?

Interestingly, on Friday, chief executive James Sutherland was the first to admit that Cricket Australia’s revamped Twenty20 league would not be able to rival the financial gloss of Lalit Modi’s brainchild. “I don’t think we see ourselves as a competitor to the IPL (in terms of player earnings) and certainly the revenues that the Cricket Australia Big Bash League can generate,” Sutherland said in Melbourne, soon after CA approved overseas private investments in its new-look league.

Veteran ad filmmaker and theatre personality Alyque Padamsee can only agree with Sutherland. “No. they (CA) can’t upstage the IPL,” he says, in no uncertain terms, before lending perspective to the argument, “Australia has a population of 18 million. Mumbai alone has over 20 million.”

Prahlad Kakkar, another hugely-successful adman, speaks about India’s numero uno status in the cricketing world. “Why is the IPL popular? It’s an Indian tournament, watched by Indians, sponsored by Indians and paid for by Indians. No one (other cricket playing nations) has that kind of money locked up like we have in India. You can have the tournament any where in the world but if Indians are not watching it, the money will not come. If Indians don’t watch Big Bash, it simply won’t work. And if Australia’s prime time doesn’t match with ours, no one will watch.”

Anil Singh, managing director, Procam International, echoes the views of the senior admen. “I seriously doubt it,” he says, when asked if IPL faces a threat from Down Under. “In a country like Australia, people have so many sports to choose from. Even if the revamped version of the league is a hit, I don’t think it can become as big as the IPL,” adds Singh, whose company is the logistics partner for Mumbai Marathon.

Padamsee makes another pertinent point. “CA must find a (Lalit) Modi. They need a dynamo who can strike new deals, is a great brand ambassador and super energetic. Where do you get all that from?” he asks, before adding, “Please don’t underestimate the IPL’s value. As a matter of fact, the IPL is India’s only billion-dollar brand. You can’t replicate, forget upstaging, a brand like IPL so easily.”

The BCCI, on its part, is unfazed. “I don’t think it is a threat to the IPL. We don’t look at it that way. We have never stopped any other board from starting any league. It is up to them,” Niranjan Shah, a BCCI vice-president and a former vice-chairman of the IPL, said.
Percept managing director Shailendra Singh adds a word of caution, though. “The concept is good. The Big Bash, in itself, is conducted well and received well too. But the key lies in getting Indian players on board. If the BCCI allows a few key Indian players to participate in the tournament, the profile of Big Bash will change. But that doesn’t mean it can upstage something like the IPL,” he said.