Brand IPL's problem: Too much drama, too little cricket

From rave parties to over-the-top celebrations, stadium brawls to last-ball wins, the Indian Premier League had its fair mix of thrill, spills and chills. For nearly two months, the annual event kept fans – cricket and gossip – transfixed to their television sets with its mix of good cricket and controversies.

You’d think the winner in all of this would be the IPL. To the disappointment of the team franchisees and organisers, it’s not.

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According to a valuation by Brand Finance, the brand value of IPL has fallen to $2.92 billion (Rs 16,163 crore) from a peak of $4.13 billion (Rs 19,675 crore) in 2010. A Business Standard report noted that even television ratings have fallen consistently from 4.81 in the first year (2008) to 3.27 this year. Even ad revenues have slumped 30 percent this season from a year ago.

The Brand Finance report also says $1 billion in cash flows have dried up because of a host of issues; it also warns the brand’s value could shrink further to $2 billion or thereabouts. That will certainly not be good news to franchises such as Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, both of which are still not profitable .

Nevertheless, N Srinivasan, president, BCCI, insists the fifth season was a better success than the previous four seasons. He told Indian Express , “If the sense of fulfillment could be calculated, it would run into several billions of dollars, far exceeding those earned by the organisers and franchisees in the past four years, at the end of the fifth season.”

Supporting that sentiment is Bollywood’s Shah Rukh Khan, who owns Kolkata Knight Riders: he said there is no need to lose hope over falling television ratings. He told Times of India that television ratings “don’t fall as much as they eventually settle down. If KBC’s (Kaun Banega Crorepati) rating was five in the first year, it didn’t continue being five for the next five years.”

Some media watchers blame the mushrooming controversies for the decline in popularity. Not everyone agrees though. As the saying goes, any publicity is good publicity.

Of course, there are lessons that could be learnt. Santosh Desai, CEO of Future Brands, told Business Standard that excessive emphasis on content rather than cricket could harm the brand further. “Going ahead, one has to reduce the distraction around sport. It is a sports league, and banking too much on entertainment is a very short-term strategy as it fades quickly. Adding glamour just doesn’t prop up the brand in the long run,” he says.

Are IPL’s brand managers listening?