Abstract
Impact of COVID-19 on the IPL – The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a decade old, electrifying cricket league organized by BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and played out in India from 2008 onwards. The main aim of the research is to understand the marketing implication to overcome all sorts of controversy, challenges and clutter impacting the overall brand image of the league. The research has discussed the major controversies and challenges faced by the league in every season like slap-gate controversy, ban on Pakistan players, sacking of Lalit Modi, players testing positive for drugs, fixing scandals, ban on Lankan players, ban of CSK & RCB franchises, League’s fixture & societal responsibility issue and fair-play issues , which had highly tested the credibility of the league. In the marketing perspective, the impact of various clutters of leagues (many emerging leagues) is critically examined to overcome the competitive threats posed before the league. The IPL’s nexus with Bollywood industry is discussed critically and significant marketing & promotional efforts to connect effectively with film industry of down south can help to enhance the brand value of the league. The research also accentuated the IPL’s revolutionary role to influence other games in the country to start own leagues and making it to grow bigger every year. The challenge of scheduling IPL season 2020 amidst the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic is also discussed in the research. Finally, the research concludes with the need for strategic marketing efforts to counter the above challenges looming the league.
Introduction
Human behaviour is most easily attracted towards gaming and competitive spirit (Deterding, 2012). The gamification theory today, is the one, which is most heavily used by every marketer to attract eye balls and convert awareness into action down the AIDA (Awareness Interest Desire Action) model. As per this concept, humans are naturally attracted to various forms of competition which may be in the form of leader board, collecting coupons, online games and what not. Many organizations have successfully converted the interest of the spectators into a revenue earning mechanism. Infact most sports franchises work to convert the attention and engagement of the spectators of sports into dollars. This concept was converted into a million dollar baby yet again, when BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) launched the IPL in 2008.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India usually contested between March and May of every year by eight teams representing eight different cities or states in India.
The league was founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. The IPL has an exclusive window in ICC Future Tours Programme.
The IPL is the most-attended cricket league in the world and in 2014 was ranked sixth by average attendance among all sports leagues.
In 2010, the IPL became the first sporting event in the world to be broadcast live on YouTube.
There have been thirteen seasons of the IPL tournament. The current IPL title holders are the Mumbai Indians, who won the 2020 season.
The venue for the 2020 season was moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic and games were played in the United Arab Emirates.
Forms of cricket range from Twenty20, with each team batting for a single innings of 20 overs, to Test matches played over five days. Traditionally cricketers play in allwhite kit, but in limited overs cricket they wear club or team colours. In addition to the basic kit, some players wear protective gear to prevent injury caused by the ball, which is a hard, solid spheroid made of compressed leather with a slightly raised sewn seam enclosing a cork core layered with tightly wound string.
World cricket in 20 century
The inter-war years were dominated by Australia’s Don Bradman, statistically the greatest Test batsman of all time. Test cricket continued to expand during the 20th century with the addition of the West Indies (1928), New Zealand (1930) and India (1932) before the Second World War and then Pakistan (1952), Sri Lanka (1982), Zimbabwe (1992), Bangladesh (2000), Ireland and Afghanistan (both 2018) in the post-war period. South Africa was banned from international cricket from 1970 to 1992 as part of the apartheid boycott.
International competitions
Most international matches are played as parts of ‘tours’, when one nation travels to another for a number of weeks or months, and plays a number of matches of various sorts against the host nation. Sometimes a perpetual trophy is awarded to the winner of the Test series, the most famous of which is The Ashes.
The ICC also organises competitions that are for several countries at once, including the Cricket World Cup, ICC T20 World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy. A league competition for Test matches played as part of normal tours, the ICC World Test Championship, had been proposed several times, and its first instance began in 2019. A league competition for ODIs, the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, began in August 2020. The ICC maintains Test rankings, ODI rankings and T20 rankings systems for the countries which play these forms of cricket.
Competitions for member nations of the ICC with Associate status include the ICC Intercontinental Cup, for first-class cricket matches, and the World Cricket League for one-day matches, the final matches of which now also serve as the ICC World Cup Qualifier.
National competitions
First-class cricket in England is played for the most part by the 18 county clubs which contest the County Championship. The concept of a champion county has existed since the 18th century but the official competition was not established until 1890. The most successful club has been Yorkshire, who had won 32 official titles (plus one shared) as of 2019.
Australia established its national first-class championship in 1892–93 when the Sheffield Shield was introduced. In Australia, the first-class teams represent the various states. New South Wales has the highest number of titles.
The other ICC full members have national championship trophies called the Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament (Afghanistan); the National Cricket League (Bangladesh); the Ranji Trophy (India); the Inter-Provincial Championship (Ireland); the Plunket Shield (New Zealand); the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (Pakistan); the Currie Cup (South Africa); the Premier Trophy (Sri Lanka); the Shell Shield (West Indies); and the Logan Cup.
Statement of the Problem
To examine the impact of attitude of viewers ‘towards the intention to follow IPL in future and demographics is positioned as a moderator to enrich the understanding of fans‘motives to follow IPL.
Objectives of the Study
- To study the relationship between viewers attitude and intention to follow IPL
- To study the moderating efforts of select demographic variables between attitude towards the IPL viewership to follow IPL
- To identify the problems faced by the auidence during covid 19 towards IPL.
Components of a Project Report
A project report varies according to the MBA final year project course at top colleges, depending on the consequences and the requirements of the concerned project. But broadly, a project covers the following components:
- Title page
- Table of contents
- Introduction
- Background of the project
- Project objectives
- Methodology
- Results
- Discussion and Analysis
- Conclusion
- Bibliography or references
- Appendices
Project Report Pages : 80
Can be used in : Marketing Final Year Project
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