The IPL Thread

[karanraheja]

Gotta eat back my words. Yusuf has changed the match in 3 overs. 111/4 in 13 overs. Phew man this guy can bat !

[normally_crazy]

Yeehaw !!!

Well done RR. You have almost thrown the KKR out - now for MI to get past KX1P and that will be the end of any hopes that KKR habour.

[finneyp]

KKR did their best, but that was not good enough!

Next year, they need to ensure McCullum & Ponting remain with the team the entire IPL season, else they need to pick some 2 - 3 well seasoned batsmen in the likes of Kaif, Uthappa, Rahul Sharma etc.

[Dippy]

What a match. 4 down and Pathan just comes in and destroys the KKRs. What batting simply awesome. The sixes were something else. Good batting by Kaif too. Its all but over for the KKRs now. Shah Rukh wasnt seen around either.

[diabloo]

Hope? Only if Modi schedules one more KKR match against DC or RC .

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

that will be the end of any hopes that KKR habour.

[finneyp]

Originally Posted by diabloo

Hope? Only if Modi schedules one more KKR match against DC or RC .

But, there is one match with DD!
Pls ask Viru to bowl 2 - 3 overs when Hussey is around!

[diabloo]

Harsha Bhogle say, IndianExpress.com :: A few doses of accountability will not hurt Indian cricket
But what when the dose becomes excess ?!

Corporates apply Game Theory to IPL

Businessmen used to the market system expect that certainty on the cricket field.

Insiders say meddling in the Bangalore team has reached ridiculous proportions. "They join the team meetings and point out mistakes to the coach and players,"

"They even berate the video and statistics analyst for not providing enough data to the team to form its plans."

Honchos would tick off Bangalore players, asking them to work harder, like themselves when they miss targets.

the corporate minders even insisted players must double their practice time, arguing that "when we fail to meet our targets, we work doubly hard".

Mallya treated the players as he would treat staff.

For instance, he expected them to grace his parties late into the night. "They'd say these guys (cricketers) have a good time at our expense and don't do enough on the field,"

Pounded by rivals onfield and besieged by UB executives off it, the embattled team thought it fit to take a break. The wilds of Ranthambhore was elected as an escape from the cricket. Hotel bookings were done. Then the omnipotent bosses stepped in. They decided the team hadn't earned the right to a holiday and cancelled the bookings.

"Even Sharad Pawar has never attended a team meeting," says a Daredevils insider. "But these corporate people attend meetings, and fools among them even try to tell players and coaches how to play!"

But Warne showned them where they belong

"'You handle the administration and we handle the cricket,'" says the source. "Else, Warne said, he and other Australians in the team would walk away."

Another team with minimal meddling is Mumbai Indians. "That's because of two factors—Mukesh Ambani's restrained style and the presence of Sachin Tendulkar," says a source. "No one would dare try to tell Tendulkar how to play cricket!"

Game Theory? Zero Sum : outlookindia.com

'Hold A Seminar To Sensitise Owners Of IPL Teams To Realities Of Cricket'
-Charu Sharma, ex CEO of Bangalore Royal Challengers

There they should be sensitized about what cricket means, what T20 is all about, the kind of personalities the players have, and the kind of adulation and hero-worship they have. They should be told what kind of expectations they can have from the game and the players and their business.

'Hold A Seminar To Sensitise Owners Of IPL Teams To Realities Of Cricket' : outlookindia.com

[karanraheja]

Originally Posted by Dippy

Its all but over for the KKRs now. Shah Rukh wasnt seen around either.

Obviously he must have been smoking somewhere and dancing Dard- E - Disco.

[diabloo]

Now the battle is Dada v SRK!

Shah Rukh, sources say, is not too happy with this change of fortunes although he hasn't expressed his feelings openly. Ganguly, on the other hand, has not been too pleased with the team composition right from the beginning. The differences surfaced during the auction itself, with Sourav wanting more batsmen while the team management was more keen on bowlers.

The problems magnified when coach John Buchanan was given more powers than the captain himself. To add fuel to the fire, Shah Rukh announced that the coach will take all the decisions for the team next year onwards, upsetting Ganguly in the bargain.

Ganguly has apparently already begun showing his discontent: he preferred to go back home after the last match rather than stay back for a press conference to annouce Knight Riders' tie-up with a website. Said an insider, who was present at the event, "Shah Rukh did pass some caustic remarks saying, 'I thank all my teammates for being at the press conference but who can forget Dada who is missing from the event'."

The duo also had a spat when Khan was keen that his team fielded first in the last game against Chennai; Ganguly, however, preferred to bat first. Eventually, the Knight Riders lost by 3 runs on Duckworth-Lewis following a rain interruption.

The problem apparently started with the entertainment tax that Shah Rukh Khan is paying for the matches being played at the Eden Gardens.

The Bollywood star wanted Ganguly to speak to West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and try and get it abolished. The Kolkata captain, who is known to be close to the CM, has refused to oblige, at least till now.

All is not well between SRK and Ganguly*-*News*-*News*-*Times of India Cricket - IPL

SRK, born in Delhi, working in Mumbai and has bought Kolkatta. Only if his wife was from Chennai, we would have perfect National Integration

[maddy42]

Well well well this has been a great run by RR. The way pathan steam rolled KKR was worth watching. So much for ganguly running round the ground each time he gets a wicket. Loved the way pathan was hitting the ball. Seemed so easy.

So KKR has 6th spot reserved. RR has almost booked the first spot. RC and DC are figting for the 8th place. DD is wishing some sort of good luck flies their way so that MI looses their next 4 matches as they are fighting for the 4th place. Chennai need 1 win for the 3rd berth.

Heard the winning team gets 12 million and the team who comes in the 8th spot gets a million dollars. Well so all teams will atleast know how profitable IPL has been to them after the ticket sales and endorsements

[tsk1979]

One question about IPL. I am trying to figure out what is in IPL for the owners.
These people are businessmen and teams cost around 70million USD(all inclusive). How will somebody like Zinta or ambani recover their investment. Whats the business plan.
Will the prize money be enough to cover the costs.
For example will the winner team owner get enough money that he/she can retain own players?

[suman]

Originally Posted by maddy42

Heard the winning team gets 12 million and the team who comes in the 8th spot gets a million dollars.

The winning team gets US$ 1,200,000 which is US$ 1.2 million. Not 12 million. The team coming in 8th gets (IIRC) US$ 100,000

[tsk1979]

So even if you come first, you don't have enough money to buy an icon?

[bblost]

watching Ajit Agarkar get out yesterday was so funny .
I don't know if I should write this post here or in the official joke thread.

[ravradha]

I too was wondering what makes people pump in millions, till I came across this good article in: How Profitable is an IPL Franchise The Second Take

How Profitable is an IPL Franchise
May 17, 2008


While coming out of the IPL franchise auction held on January 24, 2008, the winner of the Chennai franchise, the MD of India Cements N.Srinivasan spoke to the Hindu. “This will be a good investment. We expect to build this into a viable and vibrant franchise”, he said.


After agreeing to pay US $ 91 million (Rs 3.60 billion) for a ten year contract, it was hard to figure out how he would make profit. M.S.Dhoni alone is costing him for $ 1.5 million per year, in fact just for 45 days of service.

Now, that IPL is well under way and it has become hugely popular, it will be interesting to see the business model of an IPL franchise. Using Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as an example, we look at their revenue streams and expenditure heads.


The single biggest revenue stream for a franchisee in the initial years is the share of the television revenue. Not for nothing, is IPL being bandied as “Made for TV”. CSK will receive $ 10 million in the first year and this will go down to $ 6 million every year from the sixth year onwards, when the number of teams increase and the share of the IPL (read BCCI) increases from 20% initially to 40 % from the sixth year onwards. Mr. Srinivasan in an interview to the Economic Times has said “If we had bid $90 million over a ten-year period, we’ll get back $80-90 million as TV income itself."

The title sponsorship is another major revenue stream. AirCel and Coromandel Super King are the title sponsors of CSK. Although no information is available, it may be around $ 5 million every year and this should go up significantly if the team performs well in the IPL. Add to that a slew of local co-sponsors and this revenue stream gets shored up even further.

CSK also gets a share of the $50 million each year paid by DLF as the IPL sponsor. This is estimated to be $ 3.75 million every year during the first five years. After the first five years, the title sponsorship contract comes up for renewal. If IPL turns out to be a big success, expect this to double.

Gate collection from the home matches in Chennai is another source of income. CSK will be hosting seven matches this season. The M A Chidambaram stadium has a capacity of 50,000 spectators. CSK has priced the tickets ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 5000 for the AC pavilion. Assuming an average occupancy of 80% and price of Rs 400, the gate collections for CSK, after paying IPL its 20% share, is likely to be around $ 2 million. CSK will also be earning from in-stadium advertising. This may generate another $ 2 million in the first year.

CSK sells its merchandise like T-shirts and caps through its web-site and other channels. This revenue stream can be a big money spinner if the franchisee is able to build a huge fan following and city loyalty. From a small income of $1 million in the first year, it is estimated that this can go up to $ 15 million in the tenth year.

The prize money for the winner of IPL is also not an amount to sneeze at. The winner of IPL will get US $ 2 Million. The teams placed lower also get significant cash awards. Let’s assume that CSK will receive $ 1 million per year as prize money.

There is also a possibility of CSK making good amount of money by judiciously trading players’ contracts in the Year Two and Three. For example, Mumbai Indians or Rajasthan Royals may be interested in buying the contract of Parthiv Patel as they are playing local wicket keepers whereas Mr. Dhoni will always be the first choice as wicket keeper for CSK. .

Now we look at the expenditure side.

Apart from the USD 91 Million paid upfront as the franchisee fee for ten years, the major item of expenditure is definitely the players’ contracts. In addition to Mr. Dhoni, CSK bought foreign players such as Mathew Hayden, Mike Hussey,Makhaya Ntini, Jacob Oram, Stephen Fleming, Muralidharan, Albie Morkel, Kapugedera and Indian T20 stars like Suresh Raina, Joginder Sharma. These star players cost a total of $5.575 million per year. The rest of the 24 member team is made up of local Tamil Nadu players and under –19 players, these have all been signed up for US $ 30,000 each. CSK also has a team of four supporting the team with Kepler Wessels as the coach. The annual expenditure on account of players is estimated to be

$ 10.6 million. These contract fees are fixed for the first three years, after which there will be fresh round of auctions.

If IPL is the biggest festival this summer, certainly the hype created by the IPL organizers, media and the franchisees is responsible for it. This does not come free. The IPL franchisees would have a significant marketing and advertising spend. CSK has the Tamil actor Vijay as their ambassador and former captain K.Srikkanth as the brand ambassador. CSK has created a video featuring all the players with music by A. R. Rahman. Sivamani, the ace drummer, is seen wearing the CSK yellows wherever CSK plays. CSK maintains a web-site for creating a community of fans and selling tickets and merchandise. Like all the IPL teams, CSK has its band of foreign cheergirls. The marketing and promotion spend could be of the order of $ 4 million per year.

The other expenditure would be related to paying the rentals to the local cricket association for the stadium. Running an office and organization which will work round the year, not just the 45 days of IPL season is also expensive. Add to that travel and hotel expenses. Perhaps airline and hospitality sponsors lessen the burden

So will CSK make money?

If the initial franchising contract is treated as an investment, as per the estimates above, CSK is making an operating profit of over $ 8 million $ in the first year itself. If the $ 91 million is amortized equally in the ten years, then CSK would report a negligible loss of $ 0.7 million in the first year. Even, this could turn into a profit if CSK wins the IPL championship!

If not in the first year, CSK is most likely to break even in the second year. From the third year onwards, when the sponsorship, merchandising and gate collection revenues go up, CSK may start generating net profits of $ 2.5 million (Rs. 100 million) on a revenue of $ 30 million (Rs 1200 million) from the third year. If the IPL gains in even more popularity the revenues and profits will go up further.

Lalit Modi, the IPL Commissioner said “Each IPL franchise could be worth $ 5 billion.” It is expected that many IPL franchisees will go public after the third year. I’ll not be surprised if CSK has a market capitalization of $ 500 million (Rs 20 billion), five years from now.

When Mr. Srinivasan, who incidentally is also the treasurer of BCCI, said IPL franchise is a ‘good investment’, he certainly knew what he was talking about.

- G. Mohan