IPL 2009, Economic Recession and General Election

There is just one month left before the start of Indian premier league (IPL) 2009. But it is now the richest tournament in the world and the funny thing is that it is not even an official tournament in the sense that the records made here are not counted as the mainstream cricket records. They will be just regarded as IPL records but not as of Twenty20 records. Still, most people and players do not bother because it is the richest tournament and the cricketers earn a huge amount of money in just two months.

 

On the other hand, for TV viewers, it is six-seven weeks of continuous entertainment almost every night and in the weekends, they can have even two matches on the same day. Big companies in India are very happy because at last, they have found a tournament which will be played on a yearly basis and they can promote their products by advertisements. Thus, there is every thing and there is something for everyone with IPL. It is the second season that is going to start from April, 2009 and I am curious to see what happens this time because two important things are going to coincide during this time: recession and election.

The first thing to take note is the economic recession. Most people related to IPL management are confident that their event is recession proof. They feel that IPL is the most popular sporting event in India and cricket is more than a sports in this country. They think that People will never become tired of cricket and the big companies want to be where there are a lot of people. BCCI Officials are confident that thousands of people will come to the stadium to enjoy the matches like last season and on the other hand, all the companies will come with big endorsement, sponsorship and advertisements in TV.

Cricket 360 wrote:

Many news items and editorials have been devoted to statements made by Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi to the effect that the IPL is impervious to the recession; that the IPL will not be affected by the economic downturn because of its business model and long term contracts. According to Modi, the IPL typically enters into 5 to 10 year contracts which makes it ‘recession proof’. 

Even Kings XI Punjab co owner Ness Wadia believes that the recession won’t affect the Indian Premier League much and has gone on to say that the IPL will draw even more crowds this year. Certainly the likes of Vijay Mallya and Mukesh Ambani can thumb their nose at the recession, but there are many who are actually feeling the pinch.

 

 I do not agree with them and I feel that economic recession is going to affect IPL this time perhaps not the amount that I’m expecting but it will hurt the event to some extent. You have to understand one thing and that is many big companies in India are multinational companies and they are suffering in Europe and America because of economic recession. So, naturally they cannot afford to spend that amount of money for sponsorship and advertisements like last Specially, think of the American companies who are suffering a lot in USA and many of them are seriously trying to just survive at this moment. As for the Indian companies, you have to understand that they are also  trying to become cautious in the time of economic slowdown. Even a big conglomerate like Tata is worried about the future and they are trying to become careful about not to spend too much money. So, I feel that there will be some kind of repercussion of economic recession over IPL 2009.

Another big matter that is perhaps going to affect is that general election in India is going to take place in April 2009. But the main problem is that general election in India takes place over a period of time not just in one day and security is always a big concern when election takes place in this country. In fact, Indian government has already talked about making delay of IPL 2009 so that it does not clash with the general election 2009.

Cricket Next wrote:

Earlier, few games in the IPL were rescheduled due to the election dates. The IPL is scheduled to start on April 10 and the first round of polling is on the April 16.

"I have asked the Home secretary to get in touch with the IPL organisers. Since, the election dates are unalterable, I have asked to find out of the dates of the IPL can be rescheduled. I would be happy if the tournament starts when the bulk of the polls is over," said Chidambaram.

 

Well, BCCI officials will be in big problem because this is perhaps the only window of time (April and May) open for them to organize the event. It is impossible for them to find any other month for the event and you have to remember that in 2009, two import an international cricket events are supposed to take place: Twenty20 World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy. So, I think that it’ll be a big challenge for BCCI to find any other month for organizing IPL 2009.  

It seems that suddenly there is a lot of uncertainty over IPL second season and it cannot be good news for the BCCI management, the owners of different clubs and even the players. Here, I like to remind you that in 2008, Champions League did not take place because of terrorist attack in Mumbai. But well, it’s really there is some kind of uncertainty and in the end, the second season of IPL does not take place this year, then it will perhaps give a lot of satisfaction to everyone involved with Indian Cricket League (ICL). They will feel that it is like a poetic justice but the cricket loving fans in India will be very unhappy because they are eagerly expecting to have some kind of great entertainment from the second season of IPL.