19/04/2008

Will IPL transcend India?

Jonathan Coates says that the IPL will engage only the Indian audience.

Frankly, who cares whether it is popular elsewhere. All it matters is how the locals take to the hooch.

What do you think? Will it be as hugely popular among other audience, as it seems destined to be in India?

28 comments:

Homer said...

Ott,

The target audience are the Indians.. Then, either as a fad, or because the contests are good enough to watch or because of its own innate popularity and subsequent marketing blitz, the league will catch on elsewhere.

But, if the Indians dont bite, good bye to all that !!

Cheers

LVISS said...

WE SAW HOW BANGALORE CROWD CHEERED KOLKATTA TEAM MORE THAN THEIR OWN.THERE WAS ALSO A PLACARD SAYING COUNTRIES DONT MATTER ONLY CRICKET.

Anonymous said...

The reaction has been pretty underwhelming in Australia. The time difference puts the games in the middle of the night.

T20 hasn't taken off in the same way in Australia as perhaps it has in India and England. I can't say the etallic gold accotrement will do much for its chances either.

The IPL will have to get franchises moving outside India to make any dent in foreign markets, certainly Australia.

Trideep said...

Ott,

I feel this will depend on the success of first season of IPL. If its a huge hit then it is possible to take IPL outside India as well. Just like ICL is thinking of going to Pakistan. But as of now, I think its only in India

Viswanathan said...

Homer,

Judging by the response they seemed to have embraced it.

Viswanathan said...

R,
True. The question is have other people embraced the concept.

Viswanathan said...

Park,

Next year there could be overseas games too.

Viswanathan said...

Trideep,

A warm welcome. Your post on yesterdays match is excellent.

Honestly I would like to confine it to India. In my opinion even the overseas players are a distraction.

Trideep said...

Ott,

Thanks a lot..

I feel the inclusion of overseas players is an attraction for the crowd rather than a distraction. I think so because of the difference in the response to ICL n IPL.

straight point said...

OTT...

never mind them...now we have got the power...and its only we and nothing else who will make of break IPL...

Viswanathan said...

Tri,

ICL does have overseas players.

Viswanathan said...

Yep!

Trideep said...

Yes Ott.. they are there.. but the difference betn overseas players in ICL n IPL is huge... IPL contains all the stars of today.. hence the attraction

Anonymous said...

Honestly, I doubt if the other cricket playing nations will care. The IPL, at least as it stands now (with SRK and Priety Zinta), seems to be geared for the Indian audience.

Viswanathan said...

Tri,
I agree.

Viswanathan said...

I am with you VMM.

Anonymous said...

I Have my doubts about the continuity of paying players a million a tournament however I think the IPL is great for overseas cricket fans.

Never before have I had easy access to Indian domestic cricket and usually I only see Indian players once they debut on the international stage.

Last night I saw Ashok Dinda and was impressed and the fielding of Kohli showed he knows how to play.

International stars or not I hope to be able to view the IPL into the future.

LVISS said...

THE SECOND MATCH AT MOHALI DID NOT PLAY TO A FULL HOUSE. QUITE A LOT OF EMPTY SPACES. THE CROWD IN BANGALORE MAY BE DUE TO THE INAUGURAL CEROMONY. ALSO I UNDERSTAND THAT THE TICKETS HAVE BEEN PRICED HIGH.

Trideep said...

Yes, However the match was certainly better than the opener.

Viswanathan said...

NQ,

Thats a good point. Even to me some of the players who played last nights game were new.

Viswanathan said...

R,

Maybe due to bad marketing. Seriously, the Kings XI had not much of star power.

Viswanathan said...

Tri,

The match was good. BTW, the overseas players are proving their worth.

LVISS said...

KINGS 11 WERE DONE IN BY THE SECOND OVER FROM SREESANTH WHICH TOOK THE PRESSURE OFF FROM MCGRATHS FIRST ONE. AND PIYUSH WAS OFF COLOUR. BUT THEY HAVE SHOWN THAT THEY CAN GO FOR THE TARGET UNLIKE BANGALORE WHO GAVE UP SOON
INCIDENTALLY IPL WEBSITE IS SHOWING THE MATCH LIVE. THE WEBSITE HAS A GOOD LOOK ABT IT.

Q said...

Indians comprise of 80% of the global cricket audience. So whether the rest of the world likes or not, doesn't really make a difference.

The fact that there are city based teams makes it a domestic Indian competition just like counties. While counties are allowed 2 overseas players, IPL teams are allowed 4. It will surely attract the Indian public.

BUT because of its USP as i've described at Well Pitched, it is bound to succeed beyond boundaries.

Viswanathan said...

R,

Sreesanth is becoing increasingly ineffective.

Viswanathan said...

Q,
How is it being received in Dubai?

Q said...

The response here has been overwhelming Ott. The cable here provides 3 packages - basic, silver, and gold. And it was advertised a week before that IPL will come on gold so I had upgraded from Silver to Gold the week before and was ready for the opening ceremony and the match.

When it got underway i received atleast 50 calls asking abt which channel it was on and within half an hr i had about 20 visitors to watch it and by yesterday all those 50 had upgraded to the Gold package... This morning the cable operator announced that due to the high demand the IPL matches will be shown on the silver package as well.

Everyones been hooked for 2 days. And if u read my post u wud have realised that all my friends who are die hard paki fans were watching the IPL game and not pakistan's ODI.

Viswanathan said...

Q,

Absolutely great to hear it.
The situation is the same over in Chennai.

Leave the spectators on the aside, the TV audience must have multiplied.