Cricket, Chappel, Cash and Crash: Part 1

The cricket world cup is over. No I am not merely emotionally reacting after the exit of the Indian cricket team after the first round. That of course. But also we must take into account the exit of the Pakistan team and the dismal performance of the West Indies in the Super-8 which may see it failing to make to the semi-finals.

Let's face it the bulk of the viewership of world cricket comes from the Indian subcontinent, and with both India and Pakistan out, the TRPs have fallen dramatically. Advertisers have pulled out ads featuring the India cricket team. Pepsi has discontinued the Blue Billion campaign which sought to hunt for the craziest fan of the Indian cricket team. In fact, Sony MAX which is bringing the World Cup matches live to India has Rs. 40 crore worth of advertising slots unsold. It had held back the sale of these slots to sell them at a higher price once India entered the Super 8s stage. But that was not to be. In fact, the advertisers who have already purchased the slots for these matches now want to renegotiate the price. Sony in turn says that since it is the ICC which charges a royalty from the advertising revenue, it is the ICC which will have to reduce its charges.

Also, we need to note that the World Cup related tourism that was expected to flow into the countries of the West Indies have now dampened. The tourists were mostly to be from among the expatriates from the Indian subcontinent who live in North America.

On the other hand the lackluster performance of the West Indies team against New Zealand threatens to drive out even the in-stadia audience. As it is most of the matches are being played before empty stands. Even the West Indies v New Zealand match had a 50% spectator presence. Ominous signs for the organisers and the ICC.

Idea! Would it have been better for the ICC to ensure that Pakistan, India and West Indies should definitely have proceeded to the Super 8s!

By the way, as it seems most likely it is Australia who are going to win this year's edition as well. If so, I think that it is going to be very negative for the business interests in cricket. For it gets more and more predictable. This is a different generation of the Australian team than that which won in England 1999 under Steve Waugh. The success of the Australian team can spell a doom for TRPs of cricket worldwide. I suggest that in the next Cricket World Cup, Australia should play only one match and that is the Final. That will help retain some interest in the tournament at least till the semi-Final stage.

But I hope that Australia wins. For then we can claim that it was immaterial whether India went out in the 1st round or not - it was inevitable that Australia would win. The tournament and all its victories and defeats were point less.

to be continued....