There's one financial fact that gives me hope that the IPL franchise owners won't be taking over cricket. The IPL just sold their rights for the next 5 years for about US6bil.
Only about 4% of that was for the rights outside of the Indian subcontinent.
So, even the biggest, brightest league, the only league with all the world's best players, isn't worth that much outside of India; something like US30mil per season. What this says to me, is that the only real value is provided by your local audience. The franchises bought by the IPL franchise owners and other Indian businesses, have no significant local audience. Their broadcast rights in those leagues, currently small, are never going to double like the IPL just has.
So the question is, how are these franchises going to make money?
I just cant see how they could lose millions on each franchise, each year. That's just not sustainable.
The UAE league has broadcast rights locked in at US12mil per season for 10 years. Across 6 teams, that doesn't ever cover the salary cap. What other revenue is there for a league in the UAE? There's no way those franchise owners can make a profit on those numbers.
This is the issue that gives me hope that IPL franchise owners (and other big Indian business enterprises) won't ever have leagues running 9 months of the year, and hence have players locked into annual franchise contracts.
I believe the threat that is real though, is the IPL being blown out to 6-8 month competition. That's the only place where there's guaranteed greater revenue.
The money on offer is all well and good, but what happens when it doesn't mean anything anymore? Where's the attachment, the connection, the tribalism? It's very hard to create a sense of connection when players hop teams every other year for more money. And look at how we got bored of 50 over cricket, itself once the hot new thing. All this T20 talk is laced with greed and speculation, and the bubble will ultimately burst, I have no doubt.
"Hard to create a sense of connection" -- what, like EPL teams such as Liverpool and Manchester United? They have huge connections which rival that of countries' teams, all over the world. No reason to believe cricket isn't headed down that path.
Fair point, but most of that is driven by financial transactions...and that is from a sport that started mainly with cricket clubs, as a means of keeping their players fit over winter. The game is just different, football breeds tribalism, cricket is more nuanced, slower, meant to evolve over days of play, not 2 or 3 hours. At least in my opinion. I feel that Manners is right on this one, I just don't want him to be.
It does look inevitable. What's going to irritate me in this new era will be the lauding of batsmen (not bowlers so much because the format is set up for them to provide the canon fodder for the 6s and 4s that crowds want to see) as being the GOATs and other wild plaudits. T20 has brought great skills to cricket which has had a positive impact on the longer formats. But comparing players across formats and eras will be a dubious exercise.
I am concerned about the total lack of discussion in regards the sport becoming stale as a viable viewing commodity. With way too many leagues, games, when will the audience grow tired, and move away to something else.. This has happened in the USA, with NASCAR viewership at a record low, and declining, they have tried to spice the seasons up, but this only drove the numbers down...
Since I no longer have access to DSTV, I really have lost all interest in sport, I have no idea who is playing, what sport is where, results, I have lost all desire, which is a pity, but really beyond my control.
I am old enough to remember the huge excitement of Natal playing Northern Transvaal, of being on cricket tour and we all chipped in R10 to buy batteries to listen to the game, of being so excited to hear the commentators, of "field ears" back when there was only 1 season of sport, Rugby played from this to that date, then in the hot summer, cricket, Friday nights was B n H pyjama cricket, pack up the kids, hot dogs, and cold oros in the thermos, and off to Kingsmead for fun evening of not watching, playing french cricket on the grass banks, whilst all the moms talked about us or something else..moms...
We had hero's, we had villains, we hated WEE PEE..or it was Banana boys all the way.. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing, yes I do miss the oldne days, of being the tv remote..of open time rugby.. Of being pissed if the game ran over, and we lost the open time...
Could Supersport please explain how they are finanically "hurt" given the national broadcaster the option to broadcast the game, delayed by one hour, if the game is live at 5pm, the national broadcaster broadcasts the game starting at 6pm, with the option to flight adverts...
The attraction of Supersport is that they broadcast live, as it happens, so once you delay by even 1 minute, there is no value for Supersport, it is a bit like a Spar, they bake x number of custard slices in the hopes of selling by 6pm, if by 5:30, they are not sold, then giving away is the same as throwing away, by 5:30 the product ceases to have any value to the supermarket...
Every sport is now just a vehicle for advertising, for brand promotion, so surely it makes sense to give access away for $0.00, so that you have X more viewers...
Maybe could someone explain how Openserve can install fibre in my flat, I paid zero for this, they in effect gave me all the gubbins to access the internet for free, I pay my ISP for access, and that is that...Would the internet be as wide if we all had to pay R5500 for an install and R395 per 5 meters of fibre beyond 10 meters??
So it makes perfect sense for DSTV, to give access to premium accounts for R0,00, subject to the purchase of a dish or for R0,00 for a streaming account, or you pay the R1000 a month for a complete advert free service...
Like youtube, you have to watch adverts, which is annoying, but acceptable if you live in the cheap part of town... But it grants more eyes on the one thing we are here to watch, brands... Without brand support, would we have sport??
Who won between the boks and who? Don;t worry, I really have lost all interest in who is who, who is the best this or that. Who is playing in what league..
Hi Alex, I'm afraid that is a well-intioned but forgone hope. The new world is what it is... :(
There's one financial fact that gives me hope that the IPL franchise owners won't be taking over cricket. The IPL just sold their rights for the next 5 years for about US6bil.
Only about 4% of that was for the rights outside of the Indian subcontinent.
So, even the biggest, brightest league, the only league with all the world's best players, isn't worth that much outside of India; something like US30mil per season. What this says to me, is that the only real value is provided by your local audience. The franchises bought by the IPL franchise owners and other Indian businesses, have no significant local audience. Their broadcast rights in those leagues, currently small, are never going to double like the IPL just has.
So the question is, how are these franchises going to make money?
I just cant see how they could lose millions on each franchise, each year. That's just not sustainable.
The UAE league has broadcast rights locked in at US12mil per season for 10 years. Across 6 teams, that doesn't ever cover the salary cap. What other revenue is there for a league in the UAE? There's no way those franchise owners can make a profit on those numbers.
This is the issue that gives me hope that IPL franchise owners (and other big Indian business enterprises) won't ever have leagues running 9 months of the year, and hence have players locked into annual franchise contracts.
I believe the threat that is real though, is the IPL being blown out to 6-8 month competition. That's the only place where there's guaranteed greater revenue.
Depressing stuff.
Test cricket was amateur before it became professional. Is there any lesson from that bygone era we can apply to somehow save test cricket?
The money on offer is all well and good, but what happens when it doesn't mean anything anymore? Where's the attachment, the connection, the tribalism? It's very hard to create a sense of connection when players hop teams every other year for more money. And look at how we got bored of 50 over cricket, itself once the hot new thing. All this T20 talk is laced with greed and speculation, and the bubble will ultimately burst, I have no doubt.
"Hard to create a sense of connection" -- what, like EPL teams such as Liverpool and Manchester United? They have huge connections which rival that of countries' teams, all over the world. No reason to believe cricket isn't headed down that path.
Fair point, but most of that is driven by financial transactions...and that is from a sport that started mainly with cricket clubs, as a means of keeping their players fit over winter. The game is just different, football breeds tribalism, cricket is more nuanced, slower, meant to evolve over days of play, not 2 or 3 hours. At least in my opinion. I feel that Manners is right on this one, I just don't want him to be.
It does look inevitable. What's going to irritate me in this new era will be the lauding of batsmen (not bowlers so much because the format is set up for them to provide the canon fodder for the 6s and 4s that crowds want to see) as being the GOATs and other wild plaudits. T20 has brought great skills to cricket which has had a positive impact on the longer formats. But comparing players across formats and eras will be a dubious exercise.
5 yrs IPL will own 5/7 leagues around the world contracting the best players to play in all of them. Test cricket a shell vale the great game
I am concerned about the total lack of discussion in regards the sport becoming stale as a viable viewing commodity. With way too many leagues, games, when will the audience grow tired, and move away to something else.. This has happened in the USA, with NASCAR viewership at a record low, and declining, they have tried to spice the seasons up, but this only drove the numbers down...
Since I no longer have access to DSTV, I really have lost all interest in sport, I have no idea who is playing, what sport is where, results, I have lost all desire, which is a pity, but really beyond my control.
I am old enough to remember the huge excitement of Natal playing Northern Transvaal, of being on cricket tour and we all chipped in R10 to buy batteries to listen to the game, of being so excited to hear the commentators, of "field ears" back when there was only 1 season of sport, Rugby played from this to that date, then in the hot summer, cricket, Friday nights was B n H pyjama cricket, pack up the kids, hot dogs, and cold oros in the thermos, and off to Kingsmead for fun evening of not watching, playing french cricket on the grass banks, whilst all the moms talked about us or something else..moms...
We had hero's, we had villains, we hated WEE PEE..or it was Banana boys all the way.. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing, yes I do miss the oldne days, of being the tv remote..of open time rugby.. Of being pissed if the game ran over, and we lost the open time...
Could Supersport please explain how they are finanically "hurt" given the national broadcaster the option to broadcast the game, delayed by one hour, if the game is live at 5pm, the national broadcaster broadcasts the game starting at 6pm, with the option to flight adverts...
The attraction of Supersport is that they broadcast live, as it happens, so once you delay by even 1 minute, there is no value for Supersport, it is a bit like a Spar, they bake x number of custard slices in the hopes of selling by 6pm, if by 5:30, they are not sold, then giving away is the same as throwing away, by 5:30 the product ceases to have any value to the supermarket...
Every sport is now just a vehicle for advertising, for brand promotion, so surely it makes sense to give access away for $0.00, so that you have X more viewers...
Maybe could someone explain how Openserve can install fibre in my flat, I paid zero for this, they in effect gave me all the gubbins to access the internet for free, I pay my ISP for access, and that is that...Would the internet be as wide if we all had to pay R5500 for an install and R395 per 5 meters of fibre beyond 10 meters??
So it makes perfect sense for DSTV, to give access to premium accounts for R0,00, subject to the purchase of a dish or for R0,00 for a streaming account, or you pay the R1000 a month for a complete advert free service...
Like youtube, you have to watch adverts, which is annoying, but acceptable if you live in the cheap part of town... But it grants more eyes on the one thing we are here to watch, brands... Without brand support, would we have sport??
Who won between the boks and who? Don;t worry, I really have lost all interest in who is who, who is the best this or that. Who is playing in what league..