'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
After the success of the Indian Premier League, we have seen sports associations across India scrambling to follow suit, hoping to mint money like the BCCI did.
The IPL may have worked, thanks to cricket’s sheer popularity, but none of the other sports come even remotely close to it, except maybe hockey. So, should we really be copying the IPL across sports? Or is it better off using the same resources in more useful initiatives?
First was the Indian Volley League, held in 2011 across six cities. Unlike its cricketing counterpart, it made no headlines, only briefly appearing in the back-pages of newspapers. After a mediocre first season, the corporates lost interest, and even a second season failed to fructify.
Then we saw local badminton leagues in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu – KBL and TNBL. The least that could be said is that the KBL seemed much more successful than the IVL. Not that it mattered. With equally poor response from fans, who seemed clueless about the tournament thanks to little publicity, and little financial gain, the KBL too saw an early demise after a single season.
The TNBL has survived over two seasons, in 2012 and 2013, but that’s as optimistic as it gets.
Moving to football, there are plans for a new IPL style league, to be organised by AIFF’s long term partner IMG-R. Eating into an already congested I-League schedule, the tournament has met with stiff opposition already, with clubs flat out refusing to release their players, and understandably so.
Clubs already juggle between the I-League and various local leagues in which they are pressurised to field their top sides. Now they are being asked to release players for a two month long tournament. It would be suicidal for the clubs to let the players play in the new league as players would get very little rest.
Hockey, on the other hand, saw a franchisee based league much before any other sport in India with the advent of the Premier Hockey League. The tournament lasted four seasons, from 2005-08, before being scrapped after the disbandment of the Indian Hockey Federation. It did enjoy a good following and stadiums saw good crowds, even being aired at primetime on major broadcasting networks. In fact, it even incorporated a second division of teams from smaller cities.
After PHL and WSH, Hockey India League (HIL) had a successful inagural edition earlier this year
So, is copying the IPL style really useful for sports in India? The biggest challenges these sports face is getting a good fan following. Except for hockey, which appeals to the fans emotionally due to India’s great history in it, no other sport in India has had a good following, either live at stadiums or on TV.
This in turn adversely affects revenue channels. Sponsors may be interested in the first season, hoping to capitalise on the novelty factor, and it may prove to be as such, but once the initial excitement of the first season fades, revenues dip and the sponsors back out, with subsequent editions being scrapped, unsurprisingly.
Also, the above tournaments focussed so much on revenue generation that there was no long term plan for the growth of the sport itself. There was no money reaching the grass roots, which made such tournaments fairly pointless. The same money could have been better invested in improving sports infrastructure all over the country.
However, this is not to say IPL style tournaments would not work at all. If the IVL, KBL, and IMG-R tournaments show us the bad side, then the newly conceived Indian Badminton League and the PHL could show us the good side of the same coin.
The IBL has been launched recently, and seen a good amount of money coming in, with a million dollar prize money and players being bought at good prices at the auctions, the Ashwini Ponnappa controversy notwithstanding. But the challenge lies in progressing beyond the first year. The first year holds the key, and generating enough interest among fans to make it commercially viable.
Commercial success is key to such tournaments, as it has a domino effect. In the Indian Badminton League, for example, the money coming in is, supposedly, to be channelled into developing academies, training players and coaches and identifying talents at the high school level.
The IBL seems to be the first tournament which is actually targeting the grassroots, with a long term focus on getting more youngsters into the game. Leaving the IPL aside, none of the other tournaments seemed to do this.
However, this is more of a long term project and would need extensive financial resources, which can only be generated through the IBL tournament.
What the IBL is trying to do is hit two birds with one stone – popularize the sport while at the same time, generate the revenue necessary for the sport’s sustenance.
If it works, it could revolutionize the sports scene in the country in a big way. The IBL is a test case as such. Let’s hope it works.
