Making of IPL

 

Hello there!

Let us explore some interesting things about IPL

Where is it rooted
» IPL made its debut in April 2008, and is the brainchild of Lalit Modi – Chairman and Commissioner of IPL cricket association and the Vice President of BCCI.
» Although it is debated that the idea of IPL came after Subhash Chandra, owner of Zee Television, shared the concept of Indian Cricket League (ICL) in April 2007.
» IPL is a form of club cricket, which started out along the lines of English Premier League (club Football in Europe) and National Basketball League (in U.S.)

Main attraction
» Interestingly, cricket started out as a game played by children, but gradually transformed to a bit of a betting game (no offences please!). But with IPL, this process of staking and bookmaking has come to be a legal, official, ethical, networked and an organized business venture. Of course, IPL is way different, and has a business model of its kind.
» No role of nationality, only sheer business! Doesn’t it sound like a multi-national corporation operating from India?
» A huge plus of IPL is that it is an officially sanctioned tournament wholly owned and controlled by the BCCI, and is also affiliated to ICC, which has accepted the format of IPL and given it a go-ahead. Although, it is to be noted that all the matches are to be played under ICC rules and regulations, but ICC has not recognized IPL as an international tournament.
» Another attraction of IPL is that it is based on Twenty20 cricket. For those of you, who are not aware of Twenty20, it is a form of cricket in which each team has a single inning and batting for a maximum of 20 overs, hence it is popularly known as Twenty20.

How it works
» The best of the cricketers from across the world are grouped and classified as various teams irrespective of their nationality. These teams eventually happen to play against each other.
» BCCI organizes an open auction of these cricket players where the various franchises submit bids to buy these players. The highest bidder, in turn, wins the rights and owns the player/team.
» Who are these franchises? These are the entities which represent various Indian cities and are owned by aristocrats, businessmen and celebrities.

Team Composition
» Each franchise squad (or team) must have a minimum of 16 players per squad
» All teams must have atleast 4 players from the respective cities that are represented by the team
» All teams must have atleast 4 Under-22 players i.e. players under the age of 22
» Each team can have a maximum of 10 overseas players

Auction format
» Each player has an annual base player fee, the price for which the bidding for that player starts
» Players are arranged in the sets of approximately 12 based on their annual base fee, cricket specialism and expected availability
» If more than 1 franchise is keen to buy a particular player, then IPL may hold further auction to determine which franchise shall finally sign the player.

Profit Sharing and Money Making

Here comes the most interesting and a little controversial aspect of IPL

IPL has the following sources of revenue-
» Sale of media/broadcast rights
» Title sponsorship
» Selling licensed merchandise
» Amount bid by the franchises
» Some percentage of the revenue generated by the franchises

From this money, a major chunk is evenly disbursed/distributed among all the franchises, a minor percentage goes out as prize money and a fixed percentage is retained by IPL as its earning.

If you are wondering what else is earned by the franchises apart from a percentage of IPL revenues, check out their source of income:
» Selling advertising space in the stadia for home matches
» Licensing products for their teams like T-shirts
» Getting sponsorship for the team uniforms
» Advertising on tickets
» Gate Money- the ticket price is also decided by the franchises
» Prize Money

Now last but not the least, the money made by the players goes like this:
» Annual fee contracted with the franchise
» A daily allowance through the whole IPL season
» Bonus and/or prize money based on where the team finished in the tournament. It is optional and variable, and depends on the whims and fancies of the franchise owners.

IPL- Looks like a money making machine! Isn’t it?

Let’s enjoy all moments of IPL 2010  together  …  . .