We all know that cricket is the only sport that makes any kind of money in India. It may not be fair, but sadly its true. For a population of a billion and a half, we sure do seem to produce very few quality athletes. So why is cricket the only sport worth its salt in india ?
For one, cricket has its heroes. Kapil Dev’s 175 , India beating england in the semi-finals and vanquishing the mighty 83 West Indies team in the finals. If Bollywood has thought us anything it is that We love the underdog, and we shower glory on any David who conquers his Golaith how ever ill deserved it might be (the first T-20 world cup ).
Tennis became a fashionable sport after the entry of Paes and Bhupathy winning the double title at wimbledon and Sania mirza picking up ATP titles.
The other great reason for Cricket is MONEY. Its a gold mine to invest in. Whenever there is an ODI or more recently a T-20 match, Everybody knows there are going to be Millions of eyes glued to the channel telecasting the match. Every News channel is telecasting the score, atleast if India is playing.
Last but not least there is a following. People like cricket. Some may like to play it, Some may like to watch it and some just watch because thats what everybody else is doing. With the advent of DTH programming I am glad to see that Football specially The EPL is garnering interest like never before.
Unfortunately Football will not be numero uno in my life time. Why You may ask, It has the following, but it does not have the Money or the Heroes.
One way to get money and more interest is to allow gambling on sports. A Man U fan may want Man U to win just coz he lives in manchester, but he’ll want it to win even more if he’s put down a fiver on them to beat Southhall united LOL ..
Gambling has its downs, Like the match fixing Fiasco that Indian Cricket went though, but if done right, overseen by the Govt, with strict rules (made legal and taxed), It can garner a lot of interest and a lot more money, and maybe someday a sport as obscure as Snooker can have a 10 lakh Rs prize, And hopefully with money and interest our heroes will not be far behing
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Author: abinav – Upcoming Keeda
Has written 7 Articles, posted 18 Comments, 0 Posts, has 2 Fans and was thanked 4 Times
Brother, I must say you have given a terrific idea in making gambling legal in sports. It could be a scene changer for the gloomy state of sports in India. I completely agree with you on tht.
I just wish if the authorities get a chance to know about ur idea!!!
It happens in most countries, specially in the UK. Plus it gives a chance for supporters to get involved. One reservation I have is that we as a country tend to over react (getting kicked out of the world cup) and when money is involved it might lead to violence on an unprecedented scale.