“Satisfying to see IPL take place after all the hurdles. Now fans are looking forward to seeing some live cricket, so I feel this year’s viewership will be highest ever and this year’s IPL should be bigger than last year as well.’ said Brijesh Patel, the tournament Chairman as the 13th edition of the IPL kicked off in the UAE yesterday with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking Mumbai Indians yesterday. CSK won the match.
The IPL, which was scheduled to begin on March 29 was postponed indefinitely due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The IPL will be played across three venues — Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah in the UAE. Dubai will play host to 24 games, 20 matches will be hosted by Abu Dhabi while Sharjah will hold 12 games. The dates and venues for the playoff stages will be released later. For the first time in the history of the tournament, the final will be played on a weekday ie Tuesday. Both the afternoon and evening matches will be played half an hour earlier than usual this time around. There will be a total of 10 doubleheaders in this edition of the tournament. The evening matches will be played at 7:30 PM IST while the afternoon matches are due to start at 3:30 pm IST.
“It is very satisfying to see IPL happening after all the hurdles on the way. Finally, we are able to make it happen but this is only the beginning as it is a long tournament so we cannot afford to be complacent but definitely, it is very satisfying,” Patel told ANI. “I think cricket fans were a bit disappointed when it was (IPL) postponed and nothing was certain about the fate of the tournament. But now they (fans) are looking forward to seeing some live cricket so I feel this year’s viewership will be highest ever and this year’s IPL should be bigger than last year as well,” he added. Patel further thanked BCCI, IPL officials, and the Indian government for making IPL happen in the UAE. The Chairman shared how the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) supported them to host the competition in the UAE.
“It is also the hard work and patience of all our members in BCCI and IPL officials, they have put in a lot of hard work to make it happen. To start with, it was the Indian government who gave us the nod to host the IPL abroad and would also like to thank ECB, who willingly wanted to have IPL in UAE,” Patel said. “See there is no hold on the pandemic, no one could control it so we had to keep waiting and watching and find out that where and when we can play. It was in no one’s hand it could be anywhere but UAE had controlled the COVID-19 situation. We are taking care of all the guidelines and giving priority to the health and safety of players which is no doubt paramount for us,” he added.
No fans in the stadium, broadcasters to rake in the big bucks!
Its the advertising season because it is also the festive season and with no fans permitted in the stadiums, the viewership as IPL tournament chairmen said is expected to be the highest. Broadcaster Disney-Star is pulling out all the stops, though it will clash with Bigg Boss and Kaun Banega Crorepati, which are scheduled for launch next month on Colors and Sony Entertainment Television, respectively. Viewers might shift from one to the other, given that all TVs have a remote, but there is a mobile too. They are focussing on their digital platform to ensure viewership. According to a report in rediff.com Gautam Thakkar, chief executive officer, Star Sports, said 95 percent of advertising inventory has been sold on television and 18 on-air sponsors have been signed up so far, the highest for any season. These include brands across categories such as fast-moving consumer goods, automotive, edutech, fantasy sports, and online shopping. This year’s tournament, he says, will be broadcast on the Star Sports network and streamed on Disney+ Hotstar in seven languages: English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bangla, Kannada, and Malayalam.
Media industry executives responsible for buying advertising time on behalf of companies say that Disney+ Hotstar will do a number of online fan engagements this year, since tune-ins on the digital platform are expected to be high, owing to the increased adoption of over-the-top services. “Matches will be played without fans in the stadium. So, the scope for on-ground engagement is limited from an advertiser’s perspective. The avenue available, therefore, is on digital, and Disney+ Hotstar will capitalize on this opportunity,” says Sajal Gupta, vice-president, Digital Media Planning, Zenith in the same report.
