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IPL: Successful Marketing of a Sports Event

Introduction
Launched by BCCI on the line of Footballs English Premier League and National
Basketball League (NBA) of the US.

Professional Twenty20 cricket league created and promoted by BCCI and backed
by ICC.

8 teams, 44 days, and 59 matches.

Total base price for auction was $

400 million and fetch $ 723.59
million.

Most expensive franchise is

owned by Mukesh Ambani - $
111.9 million.

DLF Universal secured exclusive

rights to the IPL title sponsorship
worth Rs. 200 Cr (over $50
million) for 5 years.

Indias Sony Television network

and Singapore based WSG
secured broadcasting rights at a
cost of $ 1.026 billion for 10 years.

Bring income of $ 1 billion to BCCI over a period of 5 to 10 years, out of which

40% will go to IPL, 54% to franchise, and 6% as prize money until 2017.

Out of $ 1.026 billion, $ 918 million to BCCI and $ 108 million for the promotion of
the tournament.

20% would go to IPL, 8% as prize money, and 72% would be distributed to the
franchisees until 2012.

So where is the money coming from.?

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IPL: Successful Marketing of a Sports Event

And where it is going.?

Money Source BCCI Franchisee Players
Media Rights 20% 72% (equally 8% (prize money)
dividend)

Central 40% 54% 6% subject to

Revenues franchisee risk

Money raised by 20% 80% 0% (Depends on

Franchisee the whims of the
franchises)

Franchisee bid Some safety

Money amount in 1st year

IPL V/S ICL

The gambling dashboard

U
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IPL: Successful Marketing of a Sports Event

N
Risk

Viewers BCCI Players Sponsors

Franchise

Marketing Strategy
The DLF Indian premier league is a concept sell. It is clearly observed that IPL is a
perfect example of

Controversy marketing

Strategies:

Auctioning the franchisees

Auctioning the players participating in the
IPL tournament.
Advertisements on various TV and radio
channels.
Cheerleaders were one of the most
important thing that is talked about,
foreign girls attracted huge crowd
Worldwide telecast.

Locations:
The venue chosen for the cricket matches
was a strategic choice of places which are
named after franchisees, which helped
attract people.

Conflicts with some media partners and

some other cricket boards again
demanded the attention of people.

Timing:
IPL has shown its strategic application of
intellect by choosing the evening time for the
matches, which made people watch game comfortably.
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IPL: Successful Marketing of a Sports Event

ICL:
The rival ICL had been one of the reasons for the publicity and emergence of IPL.
People started comparing the IPL & ICL that caused the huge publicity for the IPL.

Opening ceremony gala, Live Concerts.

Promotion with Consumer Engagement

IPL ensure participation from audience so as to

have to adequate active management. Aircel, a
telecom service provider, introduced the Aircel
Kaun Dega Man of The Match Contest, where the
winners were offered the chance to fly South
Africa and present the man of the match trophy to
the winner from the Chennai Super Kings team.
IPL-2 also hosted a unique contest known as
Miss Bollywood IPL South Africa where a model
and actress by name Dune Kossatz won the title
along with prize money of 50,000 South African
Rand. The contest also promised the winner to
chance to act in bollywood movies in future.

Celebrity Ownership

BCCI has sold the teams to corporate kings like

Mukesh Ambani, Vijay Malya and Ness Wadia
along with Bollywood super stars like Shah Rukh
Khan, Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty and Juhi
Chawala.
Their presence and visibility in the media, at
times, at the stardiums, worked as a pull factor
and added an extra flavor to interest to diehard
cricket fans who turned out in large number to fill
the stadium.

Inclusion of Foreign Cricketers

All 8 franchisees of IPL have foreign players in their teams, who lend an added
dimension. Cricketing stars like Mathew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew
Symonds, Brendon McCullum, Brett Lee, Kumar Sangakara, Kevin Peterson etc.
have pumped the adrenalin of ardent cricket fans with their swashbuckling
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IPL: Successful Marketing of a Sports Event

innings and made IPL a perfect entertainment offering for all segments especially
youth, who prefer fast scoring and shower of fours and sixes beyond boundries.

Building a Global Sport Franchisee

IPL franchise brands have still someway to go before they can be considered
alongside global brands like Manchester United and LA Lakers. Following factors
as key building blocks towards developing a sustainable global sports brand,

1) LOCAL COMMUNITY

Build a solid base and ensure that they engage with their local
communities.
The local fan base is the most loyal and will continue to support the
club even when it is less successful while international fans will be
more fickle.

1) SUPERSTARS

It is clear that certain players inspire supporters.

Sports fans will pay to see those few sportsmen who are capable of
displaying extraordinary levels of talent.
These inspirational players not only help build the club brand but can
also add significant value to the bottom line.

1) MEDIA EXPOSURE

Major clubs continually receive coverage in local, national and

international press even during the closed season.
The IPL season is short and the franchises will have to work extra hard
to stay top of mind through the remaining 10 months of the year.

Path Breaking Rules and More Excitement

IPL has introduced new value addition to the basic product that makes more
enthralling. This gives better value for money as well as for the time spent.

IPL has introduced unique variation of have a super over in case of a tie
between two teams. Here both teams would play an extra over and scores as
many as they can in one over. Then opponent team has to complete that
score to win the match.
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IPL: Successful Marketing of a Sports Event

It has also introduced free hit in the ball following a regular No ball, when the
batsman can hit the ball without the fear of losing his wicket.

Benefits
Players:

Earn at least Rs 80 lakhs ($200000) or more per season on average.Bonuses

and Prize Money from Team owners.
A great stage to show case skills and compete with the best in the world.
The top 4 highest earning international cricketers are Indians, with the
captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, leading the way with annual earnings
estimated at US$10m, Tendulkar at US$8m, Yuvraj and Dravid earning in
excess of US$5m.

Franchisee:

Using the cricket property to promote other businesses,

Prize money if the team wins.
They earn from the share in revenue from IPL.

Sponsors:

Spot rate charged from advertisers of IPL - $16,500 per spot

Improves customer base.
Sponsors get branding and recognition.

BCCI:

The BCCI has already made close to US$ 1.75 billion solely from the sale of
TV rights ($908 million), promotion ($108 million) and franchises
(approximately $700 million).
Got a great source of revenue.

Viewers:

Unlimited Masti and entertainment

A great arsenal to make the case strong against the Saas Bahu fans in the
family.
A very good reason to increase productivity in office Return home by 8 pm.
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IPL: Successful Marketing of a Sports Event

Disadvantages
Players:

Due to the tight schedule of international cricket, Chances of injury lowers the
tenure of career.
Neglecting other forms of cricket
Fast game. Stamina and patience to build an innings and bowl tirelessly to get
wickets is lost.

Franchisee:

Financial Loss if the IPL fails to take off.

Franchises Pays the team and financial costs i.e, Cost of acquisition.
Promotional expenses have to be paid by franchises.
They also pay the franchisee fee e.g. RCB have to pay $11.16m p.a.
for 10 years.

Sponsors:

Spot Rate may go down if IPL is not a blockbuster and sponsors will
earn less.
Too much reputation at stake tied to the fortunes of the franchise
teams as a whole.

BCCI:
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IPL: Successful Marketing of a Sports Event

May forget to put efforts to promote other forms of cricket Domestic and
Test Cricket.
It may difficult to arranging schedule for Indian team.

SWOT Analysis
Strengths
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is based upon the Twenty20 cricket game
which should be completed in 2 hours. That means that is fast-paced and
exciting, and moreover it can be played on a weekday evening or weekend
afternoon. That makes it very appealing as a mass sport, just like American
Football, Basketball and Soccer. It is appealing as a spectator sport, as well to
TV audiences.
The IPL has employed economists to structure its lead so that revenue is
maximized. The more unified the sport, the more successful it is.
IPL is based upon the Twenty20 cricket game which should be completed in 3
hours.
The IPL has employed economists to structure its lead so that revenue is
maximized. The more unified the sport, the more successful it is.

Weakness
Twenty20 has been so popular that it could replace other forms of cricket i.e.
damage the game that generated it.
Some fans will also have to pay for travel to the ground. There may be large
queues for the most popular games. There may be some distance between
where the fan lives and the cricket ground.
Stakes are very high! Some teams may not weather short-term failures and may
be too quick to get rid of key managers and players if things don't go well quickly.
Famously, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) sacked their CEO Charu Sharma
for watching his team lose 6 from their first 8 games.
Some teams have overpriced their advertising/sponsorship in order to gain some
short-term returns (e.g. Royal Challengers), and some sponsors and are moving
their investment the more reasonably priced teams.
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IPL: Successful Marketing of a Sports Event

Opportunities
Since it has a large potential mass audience, IPL is very attractive as a marketing
communications opportunity, especially for advertisers and sponsors.
The league functions under a number of franchises. Each franchisee is
responsible for marketing its team to gain as large a fan-base as possible. The
long-term success of all of the franchises lies in the generation of a solid fan-
base. The fan-base will generate large TV revenues.
Different fans will pay different amounts to watch their sport. There will be
corporate hospitality, season tickets, away tickets, TV pay-per-view and other
ways to segment the market for the IPL.
There is a huge opportunity for merchandising e.g. sales of shirts, credit cards
and other fan memorabilia. Grounds can also sell refreshments and other
services during the games.
Marketers believe that the teenage segments need to be targeted so that they
become the long-term fan-base. Their parents and older cricket fans may prefer
the longer, more traditional game. The youth market may also impress on their
parents that they want them to buy their club's merchandise on their behalf - as a
differentiator or status symbol.
Franchise fees will remain fixed for the up until 2017-18, which means that the
investment is safe against inflation which is traditionally relatively high in India.

Threats
The level of competition that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) can
generate determines long-term viability of the league. If the level of competition
drops, then revenue will fall. For example, if the top names in cricket cannot be
attracted to India, the appeal of the game will fall. Often getting hold of the big
names is a problem - Australian domestic cricket runs concurrent with the IPL
and if players move form Australia to India to follow the money then their
domestic game will be hit. This is known as 'Free Agency.'
If the franchisee's fan-base does not generate income then they may not have
the cash to pay the salaries of the best players. However, if you invest in the best
players and they do not win the trophies, then you may not see a return on your
investment. It won't be a quick return on investment - so owners need to be in it
for the long-term.
Franchises are very expensive. The most expensive franchise - Mumbai Indians -
was bought by Mukesh Ambani for $111.9 million, whereas the lowest priced
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IPL: Successful Marketing of a Sports Event

franchise - Rajasthan Royals was picked up by Manoj Badale for a mere $67
million.
The most highly priced teams may not be those that have the early success.
Revenues will come from the most highly supported teams.

Future Plans
Increase in the no. of IPL teams
Possibility of its occurrence twice in a year
Status of Indians in sports business, in world, is increasing due to this
platform.
Inspiring and diverting attention of business houses to invest into games and
sports.
Chances of IPL, of getting space into ICC calendar.
Inspiration to other countries to come into game increasing its standard
Investment of IPL into other games.
Search of newer talent in field of sports and games.
Giving a new and fresh professional look to games and sports in India.

Conclusion
Sports as a recreational product, and cricket in particular, is facing increasing
competition from a verity of entertainment offerings. It has, therefore, become
necessary to adopt a more organized marketing approach to promote sport, just like
other forms of entertainment. Higher visibility, deeper availability and easy
affordability is required to win more loyal fans towards sports events. Exemplary
protective marketing, as in the case of IPL, can add more recreational value and
consumer engagement in the particular summer engagement in the particular sports
events. Such efforts create a dedicated fan base, which, in turn, leads to successful
commercialization and helps the sports events to get established on a global
platform. The example of IPL can be a lesson to the marketing of other sports in
India and also for the promotion of sports at the regional level.

Suggestion
One Inning should divide in 2 sub innings of 10-10 overs.
In 1st inning, whose score is high with fewer wickets then let it decide the team-who is
going to bat 2nd inning first.
The same format of IPL can apply to women cricket as well as to other sports.
Don`t neglect international cricket
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IPL: Successful Marketing of a Sports Event