IPL could be bigger than English Premier League
From the article, Indian Premier League year two ready and waiting, at the Telegraph.
"Rule number one. Don’t upset India. Rule number two. Don’t upset India. Rule number three? Don’t forget rules one and two."
The fact that the person in question hails from one of the old colonial cricketing powers highlights just how powerful the rupee has become on the back of the Indian Premier League.
The success of that tournament has not only heralded a flood of new money into the game, but it has also precipitated a shift in the political order of world cricket. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have built closer ties with the Indian board, evidence of which can be provided by their founding of the Champions League, a tournament that will offer another avenue of exposure for IPL franchises and has already realised more than £500 million in television deals....
Appealing and exploiting the pockets of the Indian middle classes will be crucial to justifying the hype. To that end franchises are monitoring social networking websites to reach new audiences.
Plans are in place to provide India’s first sporting corporate hospitality packages and the marketing of team merchandise will be a major part of fulfilling the prediction of its commissioner, Lalit Modi, who believes it can supplant the Premier League of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger as the world’s biggest domestic competition
"We’re here to stay and we have a very bright future," said Modi. "Like football leagues all over Europe we will see similar leagues for cricket in many countries and there’s no question about it. I can see the IPL surpassing the Premier League in years to come.
Due to the hundreds of millions of middle class people living in India -- and the Indian subcontinent and abroad -- who are crazy for cricket, I would have to agree with Mr. Modi.
