Was Ipl Marketed Well

Was IPL Marketed Well?

History of IPL

IPL is the “Domestic” professional league for T20 in India. Envisioned by Lalit Modi, it came into existence after India won the T20 World Cup and to counter the unofficial Indian Cricket League. IPL is a multi billion dollar league, and is now valued at over $4.5bn. It has been created on the lines of the English Premier League. There have been 3 editions so far in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Due to issues over safety because of elections in India, the tournament was held in South Africa in 2009. The first 2 editions had 8 teams, namely, Chennai Super Kings of India Cements, Mumbai Indians of Reliance Industries, Kolkata Knight Riders of Red Chillies Entertainmen, Royal Challengers of Bangalore of UB Group, Rajasthan Royals of Emerging Media, Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra; Deccan Chargers of Deccan Chronicle, Delhi Daredevils of GMR group, Kings XI Punjab of Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta, Mohit Burman, Dabur, Apeejay Surendera Group. The 4th edition will have 2 new entrants – the Sahara Warriors Pune of the Sahara group and a team from Kochi of a consortium of investors.

Success of IPL

The tournament was a runaway hit. The following factors can be attributed to the success of the event.

* The IPL was a big success because India is a cricket crazy nation and anything with cricket sells.

* The IPL also tacked the regionalist mindset of Indians by having a team for major cities in the country.

* The IPL was positioned not merely as cricket, but as “cricketainment”.

* It packed entertainment with cricket.

* India was exposed to cheer leaders for the first time.

* The concept of international and local stars rubbing shoulders with each other was a big draw.

* The tournament was held in April – during summer vacation.

* The matches were played in the evenings at 4:00PM and at 7:00PM.

* Even when the tournament moved to South Africa, the timings were not changed.

* The heart of the success...