IPL, among cricket fans it is a must to watch time of the year when the league gets into action. The brand ambassadors get new players every year, showcasing the raw and exciting talent amongst the most famous names in cricket. It is held in India during March to May, which is the ideal time to play cricket since it is the summer months of the year. The ‘Big-shot’s’ who run each franchise spend around 6 billion each year when inflation is considered.
Inflation= Inflation is a quantitative measure of the rate at which the average price level of a basket of selected goods and services in an economy increases over a period of time. It is the constant rise in the general level of prices where a unit of currency buys less than it did in prior periods.
The IPL has also hit the top 10 premier leagues in the world which quite the remarkable the achievement for a small business around 20 year ago. The money earnt from these games goes towards the organisers, back to the fans in a fantasy game, broadcasters and the owners of the franchise. The sport was doing amazing work for India’s economy as at this time of the year, many fans were buying tickets for these events and international viewership was through the roof thanks to online streaming services, while promoting the game to outside viewers everything was going fine until the inevitable occurred…
The scandals started becoming a frequent occurrence. A franchise known as the “Deccan Chargers” went bankrupt and was terminated from the league. This sent a surge of confusion through the population of India, but slowly and slowly, a new team came in and it was an incident that was soon forgotten. Then in 2014 a betting and a match fixing incident occurred between two of the biggest teams in the league. At this point people were really wondering where the money they spend goes to. The average IPL player in 2109 was payed as low as a common worker and most of the money was going to the best of the best, which makes sense although these people are already rich.
Now although most people in India are cricket fans and are willing to die for the sport there are some people who think otherwise, like for example people who think that the 6 billion USD can be used on the country rather than giving it away to the already rich player. India is slowly losing employment numbers. The number on Indian households going under the poverty line is truly astronomical as people all over are quitting to support a struggling family. This figure shows just how much of India is in poverty.
India had rapid growth despite the Great Recession. It grew 6.7% in 2017, 7.1% in 2016 and 8% in 2015. From 2008 through 2014, it grew between 5% and 11%. That phenomenal growth rate has reduced poverty by 10% in the last decade.
D the flip side 6 Billion dollars seems like a lot of money for an average person, although in the grand schemes of things, one really cannot do a lot of things given that a single building costs upwards of 1 billion USD. There are hundreds on hundreds of small towns and cities in India, to be exact there are 7935 towns and if it was equally distributed between the town (this includes the big cities as a well) there would be an average on $756,143 per town. This can also be said as around 4 crores, and this is nothing to improve an already established town, the only time that this will benefit a community is if it is a very rural. If we go a step further then each person gets around 5 dollars, which is nothing. So, there is an argument that the IPL increases India’s economy as people invest and bet on teams.
The final verdict
Although India is not in an amazing position in the economy and such, and six billion dollars seems like a lot of money to be spent, it might actually turn out well for India. The BCCI is getting endorsements and and money from international stock holders as well as spreading the games wings since it is predominantly played in India. It also makes a lot of money to cover up for its costs a well as providing thrilling entertainment for cricket fans all around.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_India
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/28312290/how-squads-stand-need
Year 11 MHS Economics 2020 