Bollywood and business weds cricket. The bidding frenzy for players in the IPL auction proves that glamour is the new name of the gentleman’s game. By SHASHANK SHEKHAR
It’s finally here – cricket gets an all-out, European-style Premier
League look with serious glamour making inroads into this new-fangled multi-million dollar industry. Perhaps, the auctioneers from Christie’s can learn a few lessons from our babus at BCCI on conducting crazy high-profile auctions that can leave most people gasping for breath when struck with the realisation of the kind of money at play on BCCI’s home turf. As the Indian cricket board auctioned top international superstars from across the world in a first-of-its-kind auction to distribute players amongst the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) eight franchises, the cricket body was taken aback by sky-high bidding amounts. And the media went berserk at the thought of finding top Bollywood superstars and the country’s most loved sportsmen on a single platter and under one roof.
IPL’s auction, held at Mumbai’s Hilton hotel on February 20, marked the beginning of another era in the world of cricket and by far the most prominent if one were to examine the sheer magnitude of the moolah involved. “I’ve been associated with the BCCI and ICC for 30 years, and have seen nothing of this sort before,” claimed Inderjit Bindra, a member of the IPL Governing Council. “It’s the first time that the market is determining the prices of players in a market-driven economy,” he added. And if one were to go by the atmosphere, it resembled a stock trading room during a bull phase; punters at Dalal Street, a few kms down the road, must surely have taken notice of the auction, where the frenzied bidding resembled stock speculation.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s current star in the shorter format of the game, was picked up for the highest bid of $1.5 million by Chennai team, owned by India Cements. The second highest bid was for the controversial Australian Andrew Symonds ($1.35 million), a price put up by Hyderabad team, owned by the Deccan Chronicle group. Other cricketers, who received bids of over $900,000 included Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya ($975,000), rising Indian star Ishant Sharma ($950,000), Irfan Pathan ($925,000), Brett Lee ($900,000) and Jacques Kallis ($900,000).
Star players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag were deemed to be icons and put out of the bidding process. They would get 15% more money than the highest bid received for the other players. However, what was unusual in the bidding process were the bids for some of the Pakistanis and New Zealanders. Shahid Afridi was picked up for $675,000, Shoaib Akhtar for $425,000, Shoaib Malik for $500,000, and Stephen Fleming for $350,000. Logically, the West Indians and many Sri Lankans went for low bids. After the bidding process, experts said that there was a lot of subjectivity involved in the bidding and team owners picked up players more for their charisma, rather than skills.
These bids came almost a month after BCCI, which came up with the idea of Indian Premier League to combat Zee’s Subhash Chandra’s ICL, auctioned the various teams to interested bidders. During that bid, people were shocked to know the price that bidders were willing to pay, as well as the interest shown by unexpected parties. For example, business tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya agreed to pay over $111 million for Mumbai and Bangalore teams, respectively. Superstar Shahrukh Khan joined hands with former actress Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta to pick up the Kolkata team for over $70 million. Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia got the Mohali team for $76 million. Companies like Deccan Chronicle and GMR Holdings also put in successful bids.
For many observers, even those who are passionate about the game, the frenzied response to the auction has taken them by surprise. Especially because a few of them are convinced that the bidders for the teams and players will find it difficult to recover their investments. According to one expert, the team bidding indicated that it will take 5-6 years to recover the money. After witnessing the bidding for the players, it seems that there is little hope for the bidders to make money. However, others disagree. They contend that owners like Shahrukh or Mallya can easily woo rich upper-class Indians to pay huge sums to watch matches while mingling with Bollywood and business celebrities. “Imagine, how much Indians will pay for an hour with Shahrukh?” asks one of them. And answers: “Thousands will be ready to pay Rs.1 lakh each.”
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
It’s finally here – cricket gets an all-out, European-style Premier
League look with serious glamour making inroads into this new-fangled multi-million dollar industry. Perhaps, the auctioneers from Christie’s can learn a few lessons from our babus at BCCI on conducting crazy high-profile auctions that can leave most people gasping for breath when struck with the realisation of the kind of money at play on BCCI’s home turf. As the Indian cricket board auctioned top international superstars from across the world in a first-of-its-kind auction to distribute players amongst the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) eight franchises, the cricket body was taken aback by sky-high bidding amounts. And the media went berserk at the thought of finding top Bollywood superstars and the country’s most loved sportsmen on a single platter and under one roof.IPL’s auction, held at Mumbai’s Hilton hotel on February 20, marked the beginning of another era in the world of cricket and by far the most prominent if one were to examine the sheer magnitude of the moolah involved. “I’ve been associated with the BCCI and ICC for 30 years, and have seen nothing of this sort before,” claimed Inderjit Bindra, a member of the IPL Governing Council. “It’s the first time that the market is determining the prices of players in a market-driven economy,” he added. And if one were to go by the atmosphere, it resembled a stock trading room during a bull phase; punters at Dalal Street, a few kms down the road, must surely have taken notice of the auction, where the frenzied bidding resembled stock speculation.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s current star in the shorter format of the game, was picked up for the highest bid of $1.5 million by Chennai team, owned by India Cements. The second highest bid was for the controversial Australian Andrew Symonds ($1.35 million), a price put up by Hyderabad team, owned by the Deccan Chronicle group. Other cricketers, who received bids of over $900,000 included Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya ($975,000), rising Indian star Ishant Sharma ($950,000), Irfan Pathan ($925,000), Brett Lee ($900,000) and Jacques Kallis ($900,000).
Star players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag were deemed to be icons and put out of the bidding process. They would get 15% more money than the highest bid received for the other players. However, what was unusual in the bidding process were the bids for some of the Pakistanis and New Zealanders. Shahid Afridi was picked up for $675,000, Shoaib Akhtar for $425,000, Shoaib Malik for $500,000, and Stephen Fleming for $350,000. Logically, the West Indians and many Sri Lankans went for low bids. After the bidding process, experts said that there was a lot of subjectivity involved in the bidding and team owners picked up players more for their charisma, rather than skills.
These bids came almost a month after BCCI, which came up with the idea of Indian Premier League to combat Zee’s Subhash Chandra’s ICL, auctioned the various teams to interested bidders. During that bid, people were shocked to know the price that bidders were willing to pay, as well as the interest shown by unexpected parties. For example, business tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya agreed to pay over $111 million for Mumbai and Bangalore teams, respectively. Superstar Shahrukh Khan joined hands with former actress Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta to pick up the Kolkata team for over $70 million. Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia got the Mohali team for $76 million. Companies like Deccan Chronicle and GMR Holdings also put in successful bids.
For many observers, even those who are passionate about the game, the frenzied response to the auction has taken them by surprise. Especially because a few of them are convinced that the bidders for the teams and players will find it difficult to recover their investments. According to one expert, the team bidding indicated that it will take 5-6 years to recover the money. After witnessing the bidding for the players, it seems that there is little hope for the bidders to make money. However, others disagree. They contend that owners like Shahrukh or Mallya can easily woo rich upper-class Indians to pay huge sums to watch matches while mingling with Bollywood and business celebrities. “Imagine, how much Indians will pay for an hour with Shahrukh?” asks one of them. And answers: “Thousands will be ready to pay Rs.1 lakh each.”
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
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