9 - From Lords to Bollywood: cricket economics, the rise of T20 and the Indian Premier League

Summary

INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes the economics of cricket. Although it is played in relatively few countries, cricket is the second most popular sport in the world after football (soccer) (Swartz 2016). Cricket has undergone some dramatic changes, arguably the most important being the introduction of shorter match formats and the emergence of India as the dominant financial power in the game. Traditionally slow-moving, with matches lasting several days, the sport has introduced new shorter match formats aimed at attracting new audiences. An obvious question is whether the shorter game formats, originally regarded as a financial saviour, may actually herald the demise of the more traditional form of the sport. Historically, cricket as a full-time pro-fessional sport was confined to England, and the English County Championship attracted leading players from other countries, in much the same way that European soccer leagues today attract the world's leading footballers. However, over the past 20 years the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has overtaken the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as the richest national body in world cricket (Agur 2013). Although most English county teams operate at a loss, the Indian Premier League, launched in 2008, has been a great financial success and has dramatically altered the structure of the sport. The massive financial rewards available to players has left other countries with little choice but to allow their leading players to play in the IPL. Outside India, domestic cricket is essentially dependent on revenue from international matches.

The balance of this chapter is structured as follows. The following section provides a brief history of cricket. The key features of the IPL are then described. The following section considers the influence of broadcasting. The issue of competition between cricket leagues following the establishment of the IPL is then addressed. The sports economics literature in relation to cricket is then reviewed. This is followed by a section on corruption in the sport, and some conclusions are offered in the final section.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GAME

Cricket emerged in England at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The first officially recognized international (“Test”) match was played between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from 15 to 19 March 1877.