Cricket: A religion under jeopardy?

The way in which marketers link themselves to the world of sports.

I am the last person to write about this! Or perhaps I am the most appropriate person to discuss this. I am telling you the reason why! I am an Indian (as far as my nationality goes) and I am not a huge fan of cricket. Well many amongst you might not estimate the impact of the statement so let me give you some examples. It’s like a Brazilian telling you that he does not know what football is all about, it’s like an American who hates Hamburgers, and it’s like Japanese who has no clue about Sushi and so on... I hope you got an idea by now. If not, I will try to provide you with more examples. But for now let’s focus on Cricket. Yes, cricket means so much to us. It’s like a religion. It is perhaps the only thing which unites the diversified country and gives a common topic to talk about. But still I feel some threat!

The thing is, not being a big cricket fan helped me to observe certain things. Firstly, since I was born, I have seen the game change its format at least 3 times. Now isn’t that bizarre? As far as I know, Football or Rugby or Basketball never altered its format over a considerable period of time. Now what is it with cricket? There are certain consumer psychology adhered to it. Marketers realized the sentiments of the commoners adhered to the sports. It was an original passion which provoked the Indians to rejoice to the game and celebrate the victories. There was nothing wrong with that till the sponsors started considering these spectators to be potential consumers. This consumer market driven attitude of the marketers actually forced the changes in the format of the game. As marketers started to realize the potential consumption strength of the spectators, they started making some unjustified assumptions. The assumption, that the spectators will stop watching the game, if it is stretched for too long. Initially cricket was a 5 day affair, which was then confined to a one-day format. Then it was also not enough. One-day cricket reached the height of its popularity but then the marketers made another dangerous assumption. The assumption that the consumers will not go to the grounds only to watch the game, but rather they would prefer to get entertained by other means.  This trick worked as well. The new 4 hours format does not only guarantee frequent entertainments but at the same time it ensures more money is being spent at a shorter time period. The new format then encouraged the marketers to introduce a league by promoting six to seven franchise teams. The scope of making money then got tripled as all the marketing aspects became very visible to the sponsors and the investors as brands loved to get associated with teams as much as the teams got associated with the brands. The love story continued and there is no problem with that. The spectators are also happy as a result of which the consumption rate has gone up.

But now I might sound like a cynic. So what’s my problem if everything is going fine and the marketers have identified perfect marketing opportunities as the franchise owners and players are making millions of dollars? The spectators are happy and the cheerleaders are dancing with their glossy costumes on. The media houses also got free news to deliver. So what’s my problem? Am I not the one, who said that brands actually defined our lives? Am I not the one who gets happy to analyze business models? So what is the actual issue here?

Well to tell you the truth, apart from being a market observer I am also a great sports fan. Plus, I have seen few trends among the consumers which I personally did not like. I am a big time football follower. I followed Chelsea since 1999. Also I am fan of a local football team called East Bengal. And as a supporter I know that, success for any team is hard to come by. It’s the hope of the supporters which drives a team forward. It’s the unheard prayers which actually work like magic. Chelsea is not going to win this year’s English Premier League. Perhaps they might not win the next five. Yes, it will make me sad. But the true passion surrounding the issue is all about supporting the team and hoping for a better tomorrow. So, why is this IPL (Indian Premier League: The cricketing league which started from 2008) fans so restless? Why they shift base so easily? There must be a reason behind it.

And finally I came to know the reason. This is because, they are not treated like fans but rather they are treated as consumers. The constant promotional campaign provoked them, the online internet bills while watching the games has hurt them, the prices of tickets are high, merchandises are a must buy as there is no chant to cheer together. Nothing is cheap here. Their expectations have reached the sky and even 15 minutes without something entertaining on the field leaves them irritated. So under the current circumstances, what could have a supporter of Blackburn Rovers do? Will he/she commit suicide? Or will they start supporting Manchester United instead? They will do nothing, but wait for next year and then start supporting their team, no matter what. Chelsea never made me purchase anything; it was rather my choice when I bought a T-shirt Adidas. It was bought with love and passion and not with expectation of converting my spent money into results. I was rather surprised when I saw how Pepsi was campaigning for football in India in the season of cricket (all seasons are cricket seasons here). I was wondering whether they were playing the wrong game or not? But rather much to my relief I found them making cricketing connections finally where the cricket stars of India, tricked the Chelsea football players over a bottle of Pepsi. Also Limca, a brand from the competitors Coca Cola, is making some claims for hitting more sixes in the game. So, the marketers want entertainment and the players need to deliver them, so that the saga continues. But is it really what sports are all about? Is it what religion was supposed to be like? Is there any courage left amongst us to love and support someone irrespective of anything? I guess not. That is what my concern is. When supporters become consumers, then they will not cry to a loss but rather abuse and break the hoardings. When supporters become consumers, they will not dream but demand more. So as the chain of demand-supply equation is driving the game forward, I remain an outsider to this.