Modi Say, IPL and India do

The IPL I thought was an Indian institution. After all it is the INDIAN premier league. Maybe I was wrong.

Have you ever heard about the English Premier League being played out side England because the government couldn’t round up enough coppers?

To say that this has the greedy paw prints of Lalil Modi all over it is an understatement. Modi had two clear options. One to delay and shorten the IPL and the other to move it else where.

In the end he made the decision that didn’t make sense from any angle. It surely cant be a business move because, there is absolutely no way that they would make as much money from it being hosted outside India.

This is Lalit Modis equivalent of making a ‘quick buck’

This was also an opportunity for the Indian government to use the IPL to showcase to the world that India is still a safe place for touring countries.

To pacify the rising concerns about the World Cup being staged in the Sub Continent and in a broader scale to prove that South East Asia isn’t some warped hell hole where everyone is trying to kill each other.

Of course Lalit Modi probably doesn’t care about that.

As long as he gets the IPL up and running while making sure the big English names are available he is happy.

It also seems as if the Franchise owners are ready to march behind Piper Modi without so much as raising an eyebrow.

Surely the accountants at these organisations would have to see that the PnL accounts wont be as pretty as last year?

And of course as always, the last thoughts are always with the fans.

This year the average Indian fan must be wondering what they did wrong to have the event, they made a success, pulled out from under them.

If anyone sees a Lalit Modi effigy being burnt. Let us know.

But don’t expect us to be surprised.

12 Comments

  1. Raj said:

    This is all dirty polictics & ego battle. You need to be Indian to understand all this. Modi & IPL & all franchise know that IPL-2 will now not make money.

    But lets talk abt money. who contribute the most money to IPL coffers anyway. Not certainly the fans who go to grounds. Its the TV company & sponsers.

    Now IPL & Modi sold the rights to those promising & guranteeing abt 50 days for prime time coverage, exposer & publicity in return for billions of dollars. Now even if he want to shorten the tournament by lets say 10 day will result in renegociating with those people & probably loss for few millions.

    IPL & Modi believes that by losing millions in IPL-2 by moving out of India is better then losing millions from those companies.

    As again…IPL & Modi dont give a damm abt us fans & particularly franchise fan following…something that they so badly wanted to establish last year. Also as you mention IPL & Modi dont care that by holding IPL in India it increase the chance of showing that India is safe for such a tournament & help things like WC11.

    Really feel bad for all the Indian fans who went to grounds & buy franchise merchandise last year. This is a slap in their face. But India loss is SA gain….atleast this year

    March 25, 2009
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  2. John said:

    Isn’t the EPL forever considering the possibility of staging matches in the Middle-East and Japan?

    March 25, 2009
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  3. Seemed like an element of brinkmanship on Modi’s part. Classic rule of business – if you give an ultimatum, you’ve got to be prepared to carry it through.

    March 26, 2009
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  4. sam said:

    Damith, for the same IPL england tour of SL was scrapped and fat ass man was sacked!!!

    March 26, 2009
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  5. sam said:

    And e1 if IPL goes in SL the flavor wud very much be Indian. And Modi might be a sore eye, but he is still a person who revived BCCI fortunes when ICL seemed to have thought of out witting it!!!

    March 26, 2009
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  6. Jonas Hodges said:

    lol it’s funny how a domestic competition is treated in such a way…. it’s fun but when u watch 2 or 3 games in a row u get tired of it… this would mean all the indian celebrities will landing on SA too

    plus that modi guy thinks he’s it… a big fat head whom i love to hate cuz of the way he acts and thinks…

    March 26, 2009
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  7. damiths said:

    John> Maybe a game or two, but hardly the whole EPL.

    OB> He dint need to give an ultimatum, he could have just waited and held it later.

    Sam> Yep if the IPL was moved in SL it would still have a very similar feel to having it in India as the bollywood scene is big in SL as well.

    Jonas> Modi is public enemy no1, so you are not alone.

    Raj> Thanks for pointing that out. I guess it was a case of which loss of revenue stream they wanted to take up.

    Moving it to SA will def get Indian eye balls on the tv because now they have no choice.

    However for IPL to really be on par with something like the EPL, it has to create Franchise Fan base. Which wasnt established last year and will definitely not happen this year.

    March 27, 2009
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  8. africo said:

    Last night during the 10min break btwn innnings in the T20 match (SA vs Aus – SA won 🙂 ) , Modi said that there would be an IPL carnival on 16 April in the streets of Cape Town featuring all the players and Bollywood stars. He also went onto mention that before, during and after all the matches, there’d be acts from Las Vegas and Bollywood stars draping around and that it would be an extravaganza….
    That’s fantastic and all, but the heinously-clothed, drag-queenlike cheerleaders who jump up on podiums every time a run is scored, blocking the views of half the ground’s spectators is bad enough. I’m scampering around trying to get my hands on the best (and still unavailable) tickets before i’m relegated to staring at cheerleaders asses. I’m getting tired just thinking about this forthcoming “extravaganza”. Let’s keep it simple, stupid: Cheap tickets, international players from all over the world and people who realise THE CRICKET is the entertainment. Not what happens before and after. Here’s hoping the crowds turn out and to that cricket carnival which will be as “kitch” as they come and me going to to it and feeling like a freak, and not forgetting to bring my camera and take lots and lots of pictures to capture the melodrama that will no doubt exhaust South Africans (howver passionate they may be) and leave us all saying: “Thank God the next cricket match is only in November”.
    Peace

    March 28, 2009
    Reply
  9. africo said:

    wow
    i completely forgot that we’re also hosting the champions trophy. jeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzz, more cricket to come. This country will be “cricketed-out” before u know it. Even spectators will be applying for “rest days”.

    March 28, 2009
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  10. e_mortal said:

    Ha! Ha! HAH!
    Such is the total isolation of the 20/spendy form of the game from the world of cricket that the Indian Premier League has in fact no allegiance to the people of India.
    Now it’s clearer than ever the ultimate aim of the franchise owners. Do they really think that the crowds in SA will match those of last years? (discounting the free entry tickets to bump up the attendance). Not that it matters, as the broadcasting rights and PPV must be the only real hope for the investors to recoup what must surely now be losses. And then there’s this little thing called a global economic recession. Not the best time for consortiums to have to make drastic decisions over changes of venue.
    The doomsday scenario predicted by the true believers has arrived even sooner than predicted – the total disfranchisement of the grass roots of the sport by entrepeneurs has created a totally separate body which has no links to the tradition or sentiments of the game of cricket, and is rapidly spiralling off the rails on a one way path of implosive self-destruction.
    By totally alienating this form of the game by any geographical fan base in such an early stage of its development will bring it to financial doom. And let me tell you I’m not the only one who sees this as blessing.

    March 29, 2009
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  11. damiths said:

    africo> will everyone be able to take time off work to go see the matches at 12.30 and 4.30 pm ?

    e_mortal>You gotta love it when a Lalit Modi plan doesnt come together.

    March 29, 2009
    Reply
  12. africo said:

    no, absolutely not.only the die-hard fans and the unemployed!

    March 29, 2009
    Reply

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