Little bit of whore

If the crowd pull is an indicator, the overwhelming turn out of 60,000 enthusiasts blatantly cheering their favourite teams at Mumbai proves the point.

While the debate still continues whether the 1 day cricket has done more harm than good to the evolution of the cricket, Twenty20 Twenty20 has taken the world by surprise. Many see this form of the cricket as a threat to the gentleman’s game that originated from the core values of patience, discipline and simplicity. While they dubbed Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket as “Circus”, 20 20 is seen as another serious bid to commercialize and detract cricket. No wonder the die hard fans of the test match cricket term this version as blasphemous!

On the other hand, the IPL is not only bringing lot of excitement, it has provided the reputable players with an opportunity to make huge earnings. To put it in late Kerry Packer’s words

“There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen. What is your price?"

Notwithstanding the quality of the cricket being produced, the successful holding of the IPL event should do loads of good to Indian cricket and particularly the young evolving cricketers.

Putting aside that ethical debate and looking at the things from the marketing perspective there is something about the event that is being done awfully right to generate massive spectator appeal. Simplifying the things further and getting to the basics they are providing the end consumer or target customer with exactly what he or she values. Is that the flare of the game? the express theme ? the national pride ? the novelty ? or are the glamorous dancing belles doing the trick ?

Do you have the answer guys ?