Unprecedented in our lifetime, the havoc that the outbreak of Covid-19 brought about has left, among other sectors, the sports industry in absolute disarray.
As sports, and cricket - from an India perspective - looks to limp back to normalcy in the coming months, there's much to worry about as the game's economy lies in a shamble. Few understand the sport's global and local economics from a bird's eye view like Sundar Raman.
The former chief operating officer of the Indian Premier League (IPL) - who worked on the T20 property since inception and was one of the senior working hands at the International Cricket Council (ICC) - is keeping a close watch on how things have been spiralling out. Raman has been working on a white paper that looks into cricket's present crisis, the strain of the coming months and the possible cures the industry could look at in the short and long term.
If there was a debate between T20 World Cup or IPL, he reasons out why it should be IPL as no sport can afford financial turmoil currently. In Raman's view, it's a case of an annual property alone generating close to 40% of cricket's global revenue versus a global property that has the comfort of being rescheduled to a later stage.
IPL alone, he says, guarantees US$100m in players' salaries annually (Rs 85 cr per franchise multiplied by 8). That accounts for broadcast revenues of at least three to four member-boards of the ICC put together, underlining what's at stake for players financially on a global scale where India's T20 league alone is concerned.
Raman has worked on two likely scenarios that may play out in the coming months:
Scenario 1: Sport returning to TV/Digital platforms by July 2020 and fans in stadia by January 2021
Revenue loss will be around 48% out of which 2/3rds will be due to IPL.
Of the 48% loss, impact of loss due to broadcast revenue is 64%. due to ticketing revenue is around 18%.
Scenario 2: Sport returning to TV/Digital platforms by December 2020 and fans in stadia by April 2021
Out of world cricket's 88% losses, IPL accounts for an approximate 36.1% of the losses while the ICC T20 World Cup accounts for another 22.3%. England will be hit hardest as the entire English summer will be wiped out.
Of the 88% loss, impact of loss due to broadcast revenue is 72%, while loss due to ticketing revenue is around 9.5%.
Focus is to bring to light the delicate economy of sports with a focus on the global cricket landscape across three most important revenue streams of the sports economy viz media / broadcast revenue, sponsorship revenue, and match day (ticketing) revenue and the impact of Covid on the overall ecosystem.
With the global cricket economy estimated to be around US$1.9b and a strong reliance on India (nearly 2/3rd of the revenue are generated on the back of playing in India or India participating), India realises only 45% of its overall potential, thereby enabling other nations to monetise.
"This potential opportunity of India's revenue contribution (unrealised by India) is alone worth US$ 1.2b over a 4-year cycle (2019-2022)," he says.
A third of cricket revenues in 2019 were from the IPL. With a fair market pricing structure, approximately 24% (US$ 100m) of the broadcast rights fee earned by IPL is spent as player wages each year.
As sports, and cricket - from an India perspective - looks to limp back to normalcy in the coming months, there's much to worry about as the game's economy lies in a shamble. Few understand the sport's global and local economics from a bird's eye view like Sundar Raman.
The former chief operating officer of the Indian Premier League (IPL) - who worked on the T20 property since inception and was one of the senior working hands at the International Cricket Council (ICC) - is keeping a close watch on how things have been spiralling out. Raman has been working on a white paper that looks into cricket's present crisis, the strain of the coming months and the possible cures the industry could look at in the short and long term.
If there was a debate between T20 World Cup or IPL, he reasons out why it should be IPL as no sport can afford financial turmoil currently. In Raman's view, it's a case of an annual property alone generating close to 40% of cricket's global revenue versus a global property that has the comfort of being rescheduled to a later stage.
IPL alone, he says, guarantees US$100m in players' salaries annually (Rs 85 cr per franchise multiplied by 8). That accounts for broadcast revenues of at least three to four member-boards of the ICC put together, underlining what's at stake for players financially on a global scale where India's T20 league alone is concerned.
Raman has worked on two likely scenarios that may play out in the coming months:
Scenario 1: Sport returning to TV/Digital platforms by July 2020 and fans in stadia by January 2021
Revenue loss will be around 48% out of which 2/3rds will be due to IPL.
Of the 48% loss, impact of loss due to broadcast revenue is 64%. due to ticketing revenue is around 18%.
Scenario 2: Sport returning to TV/Digital platforms by December 2020 and fans in stadia by April 2021
Out of world cricket's 88% losses, IPL accounts for an approximate 36.1% of the losses while the ICC T20 World Cup accounts for another 22.3%. England will be hit hardest as the entire English summer will be wiped out.
Of the 88% loss, impact of loss due to broadcast revenue is 72%, while loss due to ticketing revenue is around 9.5%.
Focus is to bring to light the delicate economy of sports with a focus on the global cricket landscape across three most important revenue streams of the sports economy viz media / broadcast revenue, sponsorship revenue, and match day (ticketing) revenue and the impact of Covid on the overall ecosystem.
With the global cricket economy estimated to be around US$1.9b and a strong reliance on India (nearly 2/3rd of the revenue are generated on the back of playing in India or India participating), India realises only 45% of its overall potential, thereby enabling other nations to monetise.
"This potential opportunity of India's revenue contribution (unrealised by India) is alone worth US$ 1.2b over a 4-year cycle (2019-2022)," he says.
A third of cricket revenues in 2019 were from the IPL. With a fair market pricing structure, approximately 24% (US$ 100m) of the broadcast rights fee earned by IPL is spent as player wages each year.
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