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The 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) is kicking off tomorrow after months of speculation, delay and debate. This year’s tournament will be held away from home – in UAE, but that doesn’t seem to be too big a dampener given the current situation. Cricket unites the nation like nothing else and IPL, by far India’s most popular sporting spectacle promises yet another exciting and entertaining season for the cricket maniacs – especially as a majority of them continue to be working out of home.
The fact that live sports is returning after a long hiatus, is something to cheer about for the cricket-deprived fans and for marketers looking to rake in the moolah. With limited opportunities for outdoor recreational activities and travel, the viewership is expected to be much higher, both on-air and digital, as home-stuck fans desperately look for live cricketing action. That said, this year’s IPL would be different on many counts.
Photo by Aksh Yadav on Unsplash
One, the games will be played in empty stands and amid a bio-secure environment. The explosive roars, thunderous applauses, ballistic drum beats and the eruptive cheers from the crowds will be a huge miss. A full-house that normally equates to a 12th man, is a key force that charges up players, acting as an instant morale booster, more so in a high-octane game like T20. The absence of this electrifying force would mean players need to put in extra energy to pump up adrenaline levels. Importantly, there will be a whole new set of protocols that players and support staff will need to comply with: on-field and off-field. These include wearing a Bluetooth wrist band that alerts if they break social distancing rule, restriction on entering fellow players’ room, zig-zag seating in team bus and use of only designated areas for team meetings among others. These are not just going to be challenging to deal with, but also adding a great deal of discomfort.
Secondly, this season is going to be the power display (or should I say PowerPlay) of Indian startups as lead sponsors of the T20 carnival. The border standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that led to Chinese smartphone maker Vivo to pull out of the title sponsorship paved way for homegrown fantasy gaming platform Dream11 to bag the rights. In its elite company are Edutech startups Byju’s and Unacademy and Fintechs Cred and Paytm. This marks a significant departure from the yesteryears which saw large conglomerates, corporates and family houses such as DLF, Sahara, Vodafone, Yes Bank, PepsiCo and Hero Motors among others holding the reins. A move that is reflective of India’s burgeoning startup landscape and their insatiable hunger to grab the limelight through prime spot.
Third is the conquest of digital and social media and the innovative ways they are going to be used to drive fan engagement, serve targeted ads and create on-site experiences. With the pandemic already having given a strong impetus to digital platforms, IPL is only going to accelerate this, especially for digital-first brands that would aim to expand reach, recall and retargeting efforts. IPL’s digital media partner Hotstar is reportedly offering an in-stadium experience where fans can join a virtual community, co-watch matches with friends in real-time and share customized videos showcasing their reactions and favourite moments. Rajasthan Royals has launched a Digital Cricket Academy – that offers virtual coaching using audio-video feedback in-app. The app is open to anyone seeking personalized coaching and feedback. Then there are other innovations that seek to recreate crowd sounds and reactions in stadiums in real-time or enable fans to engage remotely in sports rivalries and debates by leveraging AI and big data. Some of these could well find IPL as their launch pads. However, these digital experiences offer hardly any avenue for in-venue sales of merchandise, F&B and other fan-targeted services. And even if some of these did set up online stores, how many would really fancy painting their faces with their favourite team’s logo, putting on a team’s jersey or sporting a tattoo, while watching from home?
Personally, being an avid cricket enthusiast, IPL has entertained me through the past 12 seasons and hoping this year would be no different. It’s also the time when my cricket-loving college buddies’ group on social media comes alive and gets super active with in-match commentary, predictions, stats and occasionally firing salvos at supporters of opponent teams – all in the spirit of the game! It is in a way, an annual re-union season.
A die-hard fan of CSK, I would be hoping for the yellow caps to reclaim their championship for the 4th time. And with MSD’s retirement from ODI, anticipation of that extra zing is already building up among his fan-base, as this could well be the last time that ‘Captain Cool’ Thalaiva will be seen gloved and padded up on-field. Keeping aside the personal favourites, IPL 2020 would be a feel-good distraction from the claustrophobic settings imposed by the pandemic. Let the virtual fun, frolic and frenzy unfold!