2020 has certainly been a tumultuous year within the global sports community thanks to the current health crisis. We are all aware that many leagues throughout the world such as the NBA, the Champions League and the UEFA EURO 2020 have already been forced to postpone or cancel their competitions entirely. The Indian Premiere League has likewise faced a series of setbacks in recent times. While the good news is that gameplay is predicted to resume in early September, the entire business ecosystem of the IPL will undoubtedly be affected from a long-term point of view. How might the notion of a “new normal” change the ways in which this organization hosts its cricket matches and generates an income? While nothing is for certain, we can still highlight a handful of observations based off of what has already taken place.
Possible Impacts Upon the Value of the IPL as Well as Sponsors
While it does appear that the 2020 cricket season has been salvaged to a point, we also need to keep in mind that a great deal of revenue has already been lost. Even if cricket once again resumes in September, there is no doubt that the IPL will have taken a massive financial hit. To put this into perspective, the value of the IPL was estimated at $6.8 billion US dollars in 2019. It is only logical to assume that such a figure will be reduced when additional calculations are made at the end of this financial year. Although this decrease is not likely to affect individual players or teams, might we see a exodus of the sponsors themselves?
The current leading contenders IPL 2020 include the Mumbai Indians, the Hyderabad Sunrisers and the Chennai Super Kings. However, it is much more difficult to predict which sponsors may rise to the head of the pack. Industry experts tend to agree that Amazon is the primary leader. However, other organisations such as Dream Academy and Byjus are not out of the equation. It is still a fact that massive sponsors such as Amazon are still likely to come on board; especially if the cricket season goes ahead as planned.
What About the “New Normal”?
Indian cricket obtains a large portion of its annual revenue (obviously) through attendance. One of the factors which has some experts concerned involves the current health situation. As restrictions are set to remain in place for some time (even if the games themselves resume), we can only conclude that lower levels of attendance will result in a loss of revenue when compared to 2019.
Another interesting question that is more difficult to answer involves the fans themselves. Will they eagerly return to large cricket matches or might they avoid such gatherings entirely? It is quite challenging to answer this query with any type of certainty considering the present situation. Furthermore, there are also chances that the opening of the IPL season could be pushed back even further (or perhaps scrapped entirely). This is why many industry experts are not yet willing to make any type of firm prediction in regards to what awaits.
Either way, we have to conclude that the IPL will be forced to tighten its financial belt from a short-term perspective. It is also logical to assume that revenue generation will once again return to its former levels sometime in 2021. What happens between now and then is the still the most important question. However, fans are eagerly anticipating the upcoming matches and this should bring a welcome sense of relief to management as well as to the individual players themselves.
