Human nature is such that we never value the things which are available in abundance and easily accessible to us. Mothers for example, are often taken for granted because we know that she will be around no matter what. It is only when she is not around that we actually value her presence in our lives. People most often than not, don’t value the things which are provided to them on an everyday basis, and over a period of time they stop caring about it.
The IPL has been on for some time now and has caught the imagination of people all around the world. It has added a new dimension to the gentleman’s game and has attracted audiences over its 5 seasons but the craze is slowly but steadily fading away. The empty stands are a convincing example of the gradual loss of public interest in the IPL. You no longer feel the rush to watch an IPL match because it has become so monotonous and no longer appeals to the spectator. There are a lot of reasons behind this sudden downfall in the no. of viewers of the IPL.
The first being the extremely high amount of matches being played in such a short span of time. The spectator is bound to lose interest during the course of such a long tournament. The flaw actually does not lie with the length of the tournament, it actually lies in the number of matches played in the span of two months (76 matches in less than 2 months). Excess of anything is harmful and the extra dose of cricket has led to an overdose with unwanted side effects. It is like you don’t value the IPL for those two months cause it is on television every damn day. It is only when it gets over that you miss it, but that too is compensated by the other international matches on that quenches your thirst. The number of matches must be reduced so that the excitement remains intact. The week day matches are not well received by the working class people. The BPL (Barclays Premier League) is so popular all around the world because the matches are spread across an entire season. Matches are held on the weekends and so it acts a great stress buster for the people who have been toiling hard all week.
The second reason being, the three year contract according to which a player stays with a particular franchise for a maximum of three years after which there is a re-auction. A franchise can only retain four players. This leads to continuous movement of players from one team to the other which is frustrating for their fans as they need to keep shifting their support from one team to another if they truly respect that player. Also, the entire team composition changes every three years causing a huge problem for the supporters. People support a team because they like their style of play and the players it contains. But if the entire team changes every three years then that real passion and love is not instilled in the heart of a supporter. In football, only a few transfers take place every season and so the team composition remains the same due to which a huge fan base can be built up over a few years.
Thus, due to the above mentioned reasons the fan following has significantly decreased. This is a warning alarm for the IPL authorities. They need to act fast, take tips from the successful football leagues that have been winning accolades and supporters for many years now. People still love the game, they are still passionate about it; cricket is still considered a religion here, it’s just time we made people realize that!
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