yesterday i told vyom (fellow blogger of all padded up fame) that i will be writing about the commercial angle of these 'strategy breaks'...
a day before writing 'much ado about strategy breaks'...i had a lengthy conversation with friend and fellow blogger...som of doosra...and our talks somehow came to the commercial angle of these timeouts...
in this context i am quoting som from the comment he made at another friend and fellow bored member achettup's short of length...
The guy clearly loves rubbing everyone the wrong way. I just don’t understand why he keeps beating around bush, when he can deal it with a one-liner — that he did it to slot more commercials. As simple as that! IPL has promised to pay the extra expenditure incurred by the franchisees because of the shift in venue and Modi surely can’t print the notes at his home! Or can he?
so i hope...the background is set...
ipl we all know is an independent tournament...not funded by icc...and certainly not by bcci...if bcci was funding this tournament...one can safely predict the type of hue and cry would have been raised around world that instead of putting money for good cause (like putting it in domestic cricket etc) they are spending ‘our hard earned money’ on this glam show...
in fact its other way around...but that is beside the point...
ipl was shifted to south africa and within three weeks time...we all are seeing it happening...which is tribute to the organizers will and skill...but we must also not forget that how much money would have been pumped in to set the ball rolling...to put all things together...to make it happen in such a short span of time...
then came the another road block...the logistics and subsequent expenses...the franchisee’s who were already reeling under the impact of sudden venue change...global recession...and their own ‘new’ expenses in second bidding of players...banking on the fact that they will encash it with the presence of start marquee from cricket fanatic insatiable indian crowds...naturally they were apprehensive about the whole exercise (read more expenses) and that's when ipl organisers soothed their nerves by declaring that they will bear the extra expenses...
now look at ipl point of view...shifting tournament to another country...without even knowing what will be the response of ‘domestic’ tournament getting ‘international’...what will be the response of this new ‘home’ crowd...whether they will turn up or not...who will be interested to know who are karan goels...bhatias etc...when even in india most don’t know about them...sponsors reluctance and added responsibility of paying franchise of extra expenses in the name of logistics etc...there were enough hurdles on the way...that would have tested the nerve of even hardest nuts...
but they did not give up...going by their penchant of looking at adversity like an opportunity...ipl organisers came out with another brilliant idea...
time outs...
just 7.5 minutes of break per innings to slot in more advertisers...sponsors...and lo they can meet these glaring expenses head on if not overhaul it...
their only failing is, as som as succinctly put in, to name it as 'strategy breaks'...while they could have been more forthcoming in stating the obvious...which we all know anyway...
but what we the 'loyal' fans will do...?
we won’t spare even a second to make fun of ipl if it fails...we won’t spare them even if they do not succeed well enough in our eyes...not even we the fan...media all over the world just waiting, like dog waits for bone to come out of his master's hand, for making anything as an excuse for either criticising it or declaring it a failure to draw sadistic pleasure...without even sparing a thought that despite all the hurdles they faced…despite all the flak they are getting...they can’t make tournament a success by not looking at the interest of partners...in this case...franchisees... by not looking at economics part of it...can they...?
but we are willing to take none of it...acting as if we are oblivious to all this…aren’t we all acting bit prudish…?
14 comments:
SP,
brilliantly well put, about our prudishness!
about the waiting for the bone, isn't that always the case!
the world in general, and the media in particular loves underdogs, and what ever that succeeds should be pulled down in order to make way for this love for the underdog!
IPL is the thing that succeeds, like nothing has happened in cricket, and the love for the underdog, then pushes one to bash it!
thanks ankit...i was just trying to put another angle to carry the debate fwd...
though we all love to back underdogs...but not at the cost of other dogs... ;-))
SP, infact it inspired me to write my take on it at APU!
feels good that i am able to inspire a full fledged blogger like you...
The break sucks, but cricket doesn't have things so bad just yet in terms of ads, and I can accept it in the case of the IPL. Personally I am fine with them even adding more breaks, but at least don't cut out in the middle of the last ball of an over or miss the start of the next. That is ridiculous.
For all the hate of the IPL I have nothing but respect for the founders, even though it's the same type of respect I have for say, Bill Gates.
yes...ron...the reduction of overs to 5 balls is more appalling issue...when tv producer decides what we should see or not...even before the ball is dead...
your respect analogy of bill gates and ipl founders is interesting... :)
No SP, it doesn't make us prudish at all ad I'll tell you why...
No matter how well the IPL does, no matter how good the tournament is, how good the matches are, and how it changes the world of cricket, every time that Lalit Modi speaks he takes all the charm of the IPL away...
Ok so he created this phenomenon but stop acting like the GOD for God's sake..
Did u hear his speech at the opening ceremony? thanking his wife and kids and family? What the hell was that? Was he at the filmfare awards?
And then for the guy to come out and explain these strategy breaks and talk about tactical time outs and all that BS! Matlab keh hum fans ko Ch*utiya samjha hua hai?
What is so wrong in admitting that the break is for commercial reasons and that it is required to pay all those extra expenses?
We understand don't we?
The world would have as well..
As for the media wanting to pull down the IPL.. well thats the case with all of them about anything not only the IPL.. Sachin doesn't score and they call for his retirement, India lose 1 match out of 10 and it seems like thye have always been losing and have never won... u get the gist..
So this media attack on the IPL is not specific to the IPL, thats how the media has always been.
so Q...you are more pissed on modi then the time-outs...?
yes i agree with you...as i said in my post too...they (read modi) should have been more forthcoming on this issue...
but on second thought had they admitted it that yes we are doing it to make more moolah...i think whole world would have been after them for being rude and arrogant...?
Yeah u can say that SP.. time outs I dont really mind.. I feel for the players but what the hell..
I dont think the world would have thought they were rude and arrogant had they been more fothcoming.. explaining the need for more funds the way u did would have made Modi look modest and needy and actually even smart to bring in 7.5 minuites of ads..
hurray...can i claim a convert...?
jokes apart...yes q i agree with you when the choice is between looking fool in not stating the obvious or looking bit arrogant in accepting the fact...its always wise to choose later...at least i would have done so...
Can I ask you SP, why the costs have spiraled so high? Why in a recession, Sony has bid close to double their previous bid for a year less? Why it was absolutely necessary to hold the tournament on schedule even if it meant shifting it out of India?
Was this done for us the fans? Have we grown so demanding that our cricket board bows with a flourish and rushes to ensure we are not offended by a postponement?
So then it is to be taken for granted, that we will adjust for this tactical break and swallow any BS and propaganda the commentators have been instructed to broadcast. We will adjust more ads, more delayed games all so that we get some cricket now, is that the case you're making...? Appreciate that what we see as a loss that the IPL's governing body offered to undertake has been compensated by 15 minutes of additional ads.
Well, thats full of holes I'm afraid... and its got everything to do with greed. What were the franchises expecting when they signed on to this, it would be a smooth ride yielding the same increase in profits every year? Why have they all gone ahead and increased their auction bids, you really think they would have bid that much for Pietersen and Flintoff last year? These are all very careful projections based on the potential they think they can cash in on a few years down the line.
What has happened is the game has been diluted, drastically so, to give the very impression you have described. This is not a one-off... it will continue next year and the year after that... perhaps in a modified form of 3 2.5 minute breaks spread over an innings. The quality of fast paced continuous cricket will disappear, and bowling time-outs will become the norm. In such circumstances, not only does cricket suffer, but so does the fan, who is the eventual target of all those awful commercials.
So ask yourself now, how do you SP, me and all other cricket fans profit 5 years from now? What about Modi and the franchises? Was it worth taking a domestic tournament outside the country ... I don't know... but I do know that was not done for us, the fans.
thanks A for carryng fwd the debate...
i am neither propagating nor criticizing the time out...i am just offering another angle...mine pov...
as i have said in my post...sony...franchise...spent wholeheartedly...even in recession...thinking that ipl will be held in india...thinking that they will encash it with the criciet crazy indian fans that we all are...and they were not wrong in astimation...has ipl happend in india...this would have tasted unprecedented success...for obvious reasons...no boday at that point of time even thought that ipl will or can happen outside india...
taking this thing due in consideration...as well as doubts about feasibility of offshore tournament...and added burden...i would tend to believe that this 'invention' too was born out of necessity than greed...
though i don't claim to be right always... ;-))
I agree with you that the there is that economics angle to it which the organisers needed to look at and hence these Breaks.
What I didnt like is that Modi wanted to project it as Strategic Breaks i.e the time captains need to strategise. He also said that these breaks will prevent the innings to go overtime as captains wont have to spend time in between overs to think.
This explanation was ridiculous and if he would have come up with something more sensible, then it would have been much better.
And anyway you look at it, these breaks do stop the momentum of a T20 game.
Anyways, that is the way it is.
By the way, I thank Modi for giving us IPL, a very good source of entertainment and passtime and a great platform for the youngsters to showcase their talent. No one can take this away from Modi.
yes vyom...we don't always need to like or dislike someone to give him due credit...
as i said branding these time outs as strategy breaks was more worse than the time out itself...they should have announced the obvious...
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