New Feature : Eleven things I hate about the IPL

[GuyFromLancs]

Sky TV is as commercialised as British TV gets but it is much more restrained. There are some quite tight restrictions on the amount of advertising you are allowed to show.

So they have an ad break every other over (or maybe every 3 overs, I'm not sure) and after every wicket, unless two fall in quick succession.

When they have a feed from an overseas broadcaster (eg for the Masters golf or the cricket from some places) they may have to fill in, show some replays etc while the host broadcaster gets on with the real business of selling products.

I haven't watched any of the IPL but from everything that's been written the over-commercialism just sounds unbearable.

Amercianization. My dear departed Granddad would have been disgusted.

 

[andmark]

I hate it as much as anyone. I even decided to put a post on the IPL page on you tube. Now someone's mrked it as spam. It appears anything pro-IPL on the comments isn't on that page.

 

[Cevno]

Sky TV is as commercialised as British TV gets but it is much more restrained. There are some quite tight restrictions on the amount of advertising you are allowed to show.

So they have an ad break every other over (or maybe every 3 overs, I'm not sure) and after every wicket, unless two fall in quick succession.

When they have a feed from an overseas broadcaster (eg for the Masters golf or the cricket from some places) they may have to fill in, show some replays etc while the host broadcaster gets on with the real business of selling products.

I haven't watched any of the IPL but from everything that's been written the over-commercialism just sounds unbearable.

But compared to the large amounts people have or have had to shell out for the likes of Sky and Setanta in the UK, the Indian public get top class sport for peanuts,most of the time for free. In Uk only cheaper sporting commodities seem to be free to air.
So the revenue has to be generated by advertisements.While in SKY case there is a large amount of subscription fees.

If the Indians want the IPL free of advertisment there are a couple of DTH operators offering IPL without advertsiments and with more camera angles in a special package where u can see it that way by paying something extra. But do not thing these are much popular.

 

[zaremba]

But compared to the large amounts people have or have had to shell out for the likes of Sky and Setanta in the UK, the Indian public get top class sport for peanuts,most of the time for free. In Uk only cheaper sporting commodities seem to be free to air.
So the revenue has to be generated by advertisements.While in SKY case there is a large amount of subscription fees.

If the Indians want the IPL free of advertisment there are a couple of DTH operators offering IPL without advertsiments and with more camera angles in a special package where u can see it that way by paying something extra. But do not thing these are much popular.

There is truth in this, but ITV is free-to-air and does show some quality sport eg Champions League and England football matches, and their commercials are restricted as are Sky's.

I can't believe that this sort of commericial overkill isn't counterproductive. Two reasons: (1) The fewer advertising slots you have, the higher the price you'll get for each one, and (2) The less you cheapen and tackify your product, the keener sponsors will be to associate themselves with it.

And the State maybe should have a role in regulating it so that it doesn't cheapen or degrade the sport. Which in this case is a matter for Indians and not me, obviously.

 

[Jayzamann]

So glad you touched on the commentary first. It really grates on me when the commentators gush over a shot which was either complete ass or had no skill whatsoever as being 'great' or even 'excellent'.

At least with the DLF maximums, there was a prize for whoever got the most. The Karbonn Kamaal catch is just pathetic.

 

[Furball]

It's all about brand awareness.

DLF sponsor the IPL and a 6 is a DLF Maximum. As a result of watching the IPL, I've actually googled to find out who DLF are.

Result? In the unlikely event that I was to ever move to India, I'd look for a house that's been built by DLF.

 

[Jayzamann]

It's amusing to see as many phone manufacturers as possible clamour for advertising space in the IPL. You'd hate to be in the market in India and have missed out.

 

[Bobisback]

It's all about brand awareness.

DLF sponsor the IPL and a 6 is a DLF Maximum. As a result of watching the IPL, I've actually googled to find out who DLF are.

Result? In the unlikely event that I was to ever move to India, I'd look for a house that's been built by DLF.

Also googled it.

 

[Jayzamann]

Also googled it.

tbh, I did check out their Wikipedia page.

 

[Manee]

Haha, loved your paragraphs about DLF maximums and Citi moments of success. Nicely put.

Yes. Really enjoyed the article.

 

[Dissector]

The cricket is actually pretty decent. The cheerleaders, commercials during overs, idiotic sponsored names are annoying. The latter don't even make commercial sense. Not all publicity is good publicity. Constantly annoying fans with silly plugs like DLF Maximum doesn't enhance the value of a brand.

 

[analyst]

11 things I hate hmm. I do actually like the IPL, but lets start.

1) Harsha Bhogle -He is extremely annoying, he preached about culture recently and has a lack of humor and sensitivity is an uppity halfwit. (Best shown in the Clarke-Lara article on cricinfo)

2) Sunil Gavaskar -could never stand the guy's commentary, now they think he is some icon that needs to be heard, its unbearable, he comes out with nonsense.

3) Indian commentary is horrible other than Shastri and the foreigners who went out there

4) DLF maximum, I get the need for promotion and it is exhibition cricket but really it is annoying

5) Karban Kamal catch or whatever , every catch is one of them, it devalues the art of fielding

6) The cameramen are all collective morons

7) Coverage in the UK is a disaster

8) Mandira Bedi, random Indian lady on ITV. Why not send my gran on there?

9)Jim Rosventhal,boxing pundit on the ITV channel.

10) Matt Smith, football pundit on the ITV channel.

11) Umpires all cheat if they are local because its exhibition cricket anyway.

 

[Sir Alex]

11 things I hate hmm. I do actually like the IPL, but lets start.

1) Harsha Bhogle -He is bigger than just one Indian commentator, he preached about culture recently and has a lack of humor and sensitivity is an uppity halfwit. (Best shown in the Clarke-Lara article on cricinfo)

2) Sunil Gavaskar -could never stand the guy's commentary, now they think he is some icon that needs to be heard, its unbearable, he comes out with nonsense.

3) Indian commentary is horrible other than Shastri and the foreigners who went out there

4) DLF maximum, I get the need for promotion and it is exhibition cricket but really it is annoying

5) Karban Kamal catch or whatever , every catch is one of them, it devalues the art of fielding

6) The cameramen are all collective morons

7) Coverage in the UK is a disaster

8) Mandira Bedi, random Indian lady on ITV. Why not send my gran on there?

9)Jim Rosventhal,boxing pundit on the ITV channel.

10) Matt Smith, football pundit on the ITV channel.

11) Umpires all cheat if they are local because its exhibition cricket anyway.

Ha ha ha.

Dwta most of the above.

 

[pasag]

It's all about brand awareness.

DLF sponsor the IPL and a 6 is a DLF Maximum. As a result of watching the IPL, I've actually googled to find out who DLF are.

Result? In the unlikely event that I was to ever move to India, I'd look for a house that's been built by DLF.

Yeah, but then you have advertising saturation, plus when overburdened with advertising people grow their internal ad blockers quite a bit which is what I suspect has happened with many Indians. No idea how effective this strategy has been for either the IPL or the brands though. I assume it'll pay great dividends in the short term, but much less in the long term.

 

[Furball]

Gotta love Ravi Shastri's voice. 2nd only to Michael Holding IMO.

 

[gvenkat]

So you're picking and choosing someone's behaviour, which has nothing to do with the IPL.

McGrath onces pushed Hayden during a domestic ODI match. Ford Ranger cup is no worse a tournament because people who play on one team for some of their career are against it in another tournament

My thoughts were along the line that IPL is nothing but razmataaz and why do that to your team mate in such vein. You give your 100% but that was out right rude.

 

[gvenkat]

You have a problem with him pumping his fist? LOL. Perhaps its the culture but I dont see anything to get worked up about over something as trivial as that. Maybe if someone like Thisera Perera did it to Murali it would have been over the top but these guys are more or less equals and competitors. Fair game. Now if it was exchanging slaps (lol) I may agree with you.

Agree with most of the points and wondering how the Mongoose bat never made it to the list. I hope its a complete failure and he has zero success with it.

Personally, I like the cheerleaders.

I think Murali is one of the nicest guys around and Mahela of all people doing that to him i felt a little odd. That was an example I gave, The whole thing is kind of artificial that was my qualm in the first place.

Forgot about the Mongoose..

 

[Furball]

My thoughts were along the line that IPL is nothing but razmataaz and why do that to your team mate in such vein. You give your 100% but that was out right rude.

He's not a team-mate in the context of the IPL though.

If players like Mahela and Murali were all laughy and matey with each other, you'd have people moaning that the players weren't taking the competition seriously.

 

[Jono]

Exactly. People used to claim the players didn't give a stuff, and then when Warne, Gilly, and other retired players showed they very much cared, and other current players (who were already stars) showed how much it meant to them when they won, people really couldn't claim they didn't care.

So now they're rude

 

[pasag]

Eleven things I love about the IPL

Thought I'd counter the above article with some of the positive things about the IPL which I enjoy on a regular basis. Could have been its own thread but...

1. Get one last chance at seeing all-time greats play - Seeing Warne, Hayden, Kumble, McGrath, Symonds et al play one final time is something not many others in years gone by had the pleasure of seeing. If the IPL was around in the 90s I reckon many of us would have gotten a chance to see Viv destroy all comers. Yes I was a bit critical of these guys “tarnishing” their image when the competition was first announced, but damn, it’s great seeing these guys one final time.

2. Players spurned for no reason by their country get a chance - Why Nannes didn’t get selected for Australia in the previous Twenty20 Championship is beyond me. But Delhi realised his potential and they haven’t looked back since. Some may argue that Symonds banishment from Australian cricket was fair, not me and Hyderbad not giving a crap about all that side rubbish gets a huge plus from me. On the flip side players that get too many chances from their country for no reason are overlooked by the IPL much to their dismay.

3. Grows awareness for the game overseas - Wall Street Journal, CNN; the IPL has put cricket on the map because of it’s sheer size.

4. It’s free - Aussies and Poms get to watch it on TV for free. Great thing to fall asleep to and really brightens up the late night TV wilderness. I have to pay or trek out to the pub if I want to watch Australia play away, it’s refreshing being able to watch any form of cricket on free to air in the winter.

5. It learns from its mistakes - Timeouts were ridiculous so they got rid of them. Initially many franchises went for style over substance, they quickly rectified that. They’re not afraid to quickly change, adapt and improve. There isn’t a stubbornness and pigheadedness that you see in some other places and there seems to be a genuine willingness to learn.

6. It’s revolutionary - The Youtube feature is brilliant and had never been done before. From a marketing point of view it has presented many ideas and whilst it is certainly overdone, many of the ideas are excellent and in moderation could be very effective.

7. It’s in touch with the fans - Say what you want about Lalit Modi, but I’ve never ever seen a sport’s CEO (or the CEO of any organisation for that matter) so in tuned with the fans. He’s constantly on twitter and you certainly can’t say he lives in an ivory tower. He’s the exact opposite of what you’d expect from the BCCI.

8. The even and unpredictable nature of the competition - I honestly thought there was no chance Chennai or Delhi wouldn’t make the finals this year, but then a funny thing happened and they started losing matches, lots of them. Bangalore were supposed to be the worst Twenty20 side ever, Rajasthan were never supposed to win the first IPL and certainly no matches this year. The teams are quite even and really there are no certainties in the league which makes it quite exciting.

9. Umpires get more rewards - It’s good to see guys like Simon Taufel getting a payday. It’s a tough job getting tougher and am pretty happy they’re able to get one back.

10. Promotes better relationships between players of different countries - Players are given the opportunity to bond with cricketers from other countries, lowering the general animosity between them when they take on eachother in international cricket. Hopefully this will lead to less embarrassing controversy which the game doesn’t need. Who ever expected to see Warne and Smith such good friends or Brett Lee and Kumar Sangakkara playing guitar together?

11. It’s fun - but most of all in its most basic level it’s a lot of fun with a lot of flashy strokeplay, innovative batting, electric fielding and nailbiting finishes. Can’t ask for much more really. This is not to say it doesn’t have its flaws, it has many, but at the end of the day it's good fun and that's all that really matters.