Messages In This Digest (11 Messages)

7.: Indian Cricket League

Posted by: "Venugopal Reddy" venugopal.d.reddy@gmail.com venusap86

Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:15 pm (PST)

You could laugh at the Indian Cricket (ICL) League for being launched in a
stadium named after a politician not known for statesmanship, in an
unfashionable corner of Chandigarh called Panchkula.

Or laugh because its stellar attraction Brian Lara looked like a bad
investment every time he stepped out to the crease.

But you could not laugh at the fact that it was launched at all, without a
hair out of place.

After months of speculation that suggested that something like the ICL could
not possibly be done, or conceivably be worth it, the 'rebel' league had
actually set out its stall.

The inaugural ICL, promoted by the Essel Group, was held, as promised, as a
Twenty20 event between six city teams lasting 16 days from start to finish.

Brian Lara, of Mumbai Champs, is dismissed first ball by Hyderabad HeroesIt
was pitched as an event to showcase domestic talent which would get a chance
to train and play with former international players like Lara. One of the
ICL's tacit intentions was, of course, to make the BCCI'S handling and
promotion of domestic cricket, look bad.

Not difficult at all. In April 2007, the BCCI held its Inter-State Twenty20
Tournament on an 'experimental' basis all across the country.

It caused no buzz, the BCCI did not sell television rights for it, and even
with players like Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthick involved, all
grounds were near empty.

When the Chandigarh Lions played the Delhi Jets in the first ICL match in
Panchkula, the 7,000-seater Tau Devi Lal Stadium was packed for its first
weekend, ringed by advertising boards and the paraphernalia of TV production
units.

Teams had sponsors, an army of imported support staff and 'neutral' umpires.
There were even anti-corruption and anti-doping officers. Despite being
denied access to BCCI-affiliated grounds, groundsmen, umpires, scorers,
equipment and man power, the ICL had all its cricketing elements in place.

The ICL hired Australian trainer Jock Campbell who brought with him support
staff for the teams: 18 physios, trainers and "massage therapists".

Six teams participated in the first ICLOne of them, C.J. Clarke had worked
with Sri Lanka during its run to the 2007 World Cup final. Phil Russell,
long-time curator at the Kingsmead ground in Durban, worked on the Devi Lal
stadium.

The one super sopper in India not owned by the BCCI or directly or
indirectly under its control, was located and hauled over to Panchkula.

The players were showered with kit (including 12 sets each of lycra and
microfiber performance wear) and put up at the best hotels in Chandigarh. By
the time of the first ball was bowled, Himanshu Mody, head of Zee Sports
said close to $25 million or Rs 100 crore had been pumped into the ICL.

*Inside ICL*

Prize catch: ICL offers the highest prize money for domestic cricket
anywhere: Rs 3.9 crore to the winner, from a total pool of Rs 15 crore.

Deep pockets: Rs 100 crore has already been spent on the ICL to get the
grounds ready, honour player contracts and hire new staff.

Market moves: Caution about the scale of the event kept cricket's regular
buyers at a distance.

Logo-friendly: But some of the ICL's ground sponsors included TVS Star City,
Bru, Lipton, Dabur, Spice, MSN.

Global view: Global rights for the ICL are reported to have been sold to
three parties for close to $10 million.

Reflecting the general mood amongst the players, New Zealand all rounder
Chris Cairns said, "We don't know how the event will go, but the organisers
have done everything they possibly can to showcase a good product."

Eventually, the success or the failure of the ICL depends not on the
'Kareena and kricket tamasha' factor, enjoyable as it may be, but on ad
revenues.

The ICL is Subhash Chandra and Zee's response to being denied BCCI's
lucrative TV deals not once but twice. It aims to embarrass the BCCI and,
equally, create content and an audience for the struggling Zee Sports
channel, that will compel cable operators to offer the channel on the prime
band.

Ashish Kaul, Essel Group's senior vice president, says the ICL has, "put Zee
Sports back into the reckoning."

The ICL hopes to stage its second event in March 2008, and Kaul says, "The
advertising push will be bigger then." Zee showed the first half an hour of
every ICL game across all its channels and ran quirky, quality
advertisements around the teams involved to build the ICL brand.

(from left) Subhash Chandra, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Lalu Yadav and Amar
Singh at the tournament launchOn the launch stage, along with Chandra,
several BCCI bete noirs could be sighted: Railway Minister Lalu Yadav whose
state cricket association in Bihar has not been officially recognised by the
BCCI as well as Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is at perpetual
loggerheads with political rival Ranbir Singh Mahendra, also president of
the Haryana Cricket Association.

The BCCI, more occupied by l'affaire Vengsarkar, insists it paid no
attention. Secretary Niranjan Shah said, "We are not worried about the ICL.

It makes no dent, who bothers about it?" The BCCI's earliest response to the
ICL though was to announce the Indian Premier League (IPL), a behemoth
Twenty20 club event where the clubs would be owned by independent
franchises, and not by a one entity like in the ICL.

Kaul maintains the ICL and IPL have little in common—not even a rivalry.
"IPL is a star-studded Bollywood extravaganza; we are about a creating a
platform for domestic players," he says.

The response from the market is somewhat lukewarm. "They should get
distribution sorted," says a sports marketing insider. Some say the airtime
pricing for the ICL was initially pegged too high, close to Rs 50,000 per 10
seconds.

Realistic estimates swing wildly between Rs 20,000 and Rs 5,000. A media
planner says the feedback has been "decent" but people were not used to
buying domestic cricket on TV.

At Mindshare, the biggest buyer of cricket TV spots, MD Sundar Raman, says,
"It's a good attempt but the IPL is in the driver's seat—in every way,
players, size, dreaming big." Kaul is prepared for the comparisons and
offers one of his own. "The IPL is six months away and we," he says, "are up
and running."
------------------------------

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8.: * * Mumbai * * local After 20 Years

Posted by: "Sysman" rakesh@undisclosedrecepient.com sysman01

Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:18 pm (PST)

No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.17.2/1185 - Release Date: 15/12/2007
12:00 PM

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9.: Vanessa Hudgens

Posted by: "Yours Fully" yoursfully@undisclosedrecepient.com faltuonly

Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:25 pm (PST)

JobSpot.co.in : Spot the Professional Jobs

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10.: GROUP SMS : GIRLS BEWARE !!!

Posted by: "glassnost" mush2talk@yahoo.com mush2talk

Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:40 pm (PST)

GLASSNOST

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GLASSNOST

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11.: Life's Tug of War!

Posted by: "Sneha Saxena" sneha.saxena21@gmail.com colmaxed

Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:50 pm (PST)

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Monday, December 17, 2007

[funonthenet] Digest Number 2071

Messages In This Digest (11 Messages)

Messages

Posted by: "~* ~ Shashi Shetty ~*~" zzshashizz@yahoo.com

Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:34 pm (PST)

Posted by: "Dr.Bagirathan" drbagirathan@undisclosedrecepient.com jkkndc

Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:38 pm (PST)

Posted by: "glassnost" mush2talk@yahoo.com mush2talk

Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:42 pm (PST)

Posted by: "Yours Fully" yoursfully@unknownrecepient.com faltuonly

Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:56 pm (PST)

Posted by: "Arun M" arunbsb1987@yahoo.com arunbsb1987

Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:04 pm (PST)

Posted by: "AMPU GGP" ampu.india@yahoo.co.in ampu.india

Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:13 pm (PST)

Posted by: "Venugopal Reddy" venugopal.d.reddy@gmail.com venusap86

Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:15 pm (PST)

Posted by: "Sysman" rakesh@undisclosedrecepient.com sysman01

Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:18 pm (PST)

Posted by: "Yours Fully" yoursfully@undisclosedrecepient.com faltuonly

Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:25 pm (PST)

Posted by: "glassnost" mush2talk@yahoo.com mush2talk

Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:40 pm (PST)

Posted by: "Sneha Saxena" sneha.saxena21@gmail.com colmaxed

Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:50 pm (PST)

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