CRICKET- NOMICS

Mukundhan, 24,a fresh juice shop owner near the signal in Brigade Road, Bengaluru  is in all confident smiles and is ready to kickstart the next 15 days to work in shifts.  New boxes, tins and jars are already beautifying his shop. He is aiming to earn huge profits ahead of IPL matches in Chinnaswamy Stadium. His losses were unbearable during the lockdown and the post-pandemic inflation. He hopes to compensate that loss with this IPL season sale and close his loan with ‘Mani Chetta’. His uncle’s family  from  Maddur has already arrived. They are chat specialists for the past 2 decades.  Medu Vada, Hot Onion Potato Samosas, Chilli Bajji’s are his specialities. Not only Mukundhan, but also many like him have their own arrangements to ‘encash’ this season.

Cricket , public perceive, was a sport of English establishment. The Indian Premier League is the grandest show in India is piloting the change and its business spirit is on the way. Cricket can educate us a lot about circulation of money in business . Few may disagree, but the absolute truth is Cricket is the highest Revenue generating Sector in our country. Accounts Receivables in this field supersede the payments during a financial year.

The IPL, which probably started as an experiment, revolutionized the game forever and the T20 fever took over everyone. The tournament experienced spectacular success, and with it came economic wealth for the BCCI and Indian cricket. The IPL became such an extensive part of the cricket community that the International Cricket Council had to carve out a separate window for IPL because the players seemed to show more interest in representing domestic franchises than their national teams. The  most awaited 16th edition of Indian Premier League – IPL 2023 is the sizzling topic universally at the moment which is scheduled to have 70 League stage matches over 52 days.

Economic contributions during this season are measured by metrics such as employment (full time and part time jobs), labour income (wages, salaries, business owner income), total value added, industry output (sales revenues) are on a progressive phase. Sustainable Development seeks to achieve economic and social development.

Cricket like all other sports is played worldwide which can significantly boost the economic growth of the country.  The  voices of ‘Thala’ Dhoni, ‘King’ Kholi  are echoeing all over the country.  The IPL generates revenue through a variety of streams. Be it selling the broadcasting rights to STAR Sports ,  Sponsorships, auctioning the players or fixing the match venue or  booking tickets for the matches  by the fans and sponsors or  wallet parking in and around the playground on the day of the match or  pre-booked cab services towards the stadium or  increase in tourist footfall . Apart from Purchases and Sales, the economic activities in Cricket has a ripple effect. FINANCE(both cash and credit) is involved. It’s Grand recognition to the host country. Grand…what I mean here is a huge increase in the share value when the host country match wins the match and vice-versa. Every year new brands come forward to sponsor the players. You can vividly watch heavy bidding to become the title partner, sponsoring and advertising which turn out to be  major sources of additional income for the players apart from their agreed payments. The sale of breakfast, high protein rich delicious lunch, tea and dinner during the matches doubles.  The penultimate source  is revenue generated from merchandising.

The Economic impact of cricket on other industries is massive. Technology  continue to creep into the game It is important to no note the role played by statisticians and analytics in this modern day game. Numbers and raw calculations has always dominated cricket. It is one of the premier sports to inculcate the use of technology and advanced statistics. All these technologies make a swift predictions of the matches which in turn create a lot of change in the inflow and outflow of Indian Currency on a particular day. Data Sciences and AI predictions are highly revenue generating avenues in this  era. These revenue generations, at micro level, are middle class with high disposable income.

Cricket has a long lasting association with tourism. As per KPMG survey, International Cricket Tournaments witness a mass influx of tourists from the participating countries.. Understanding tourism’s relationships with their culture is highly dynamic. The visitor host interaction is highly towering as the duration of a series lasts for few months. The revenue generated will vary for every match based on week end sessions and long holidays that follow.

 IPL is a profitable commodity for every stakeholder. For the current season ,the title sponsorship from TATA is 440 crores, official sponsors which includes Dream 11, RUPAY  is 210 crores, UMPIRE sponsors –  PAYTM for 28 crores, timeout sponsor  CEAT 30 crores  These numbers are astonishing.  To the limelight, the IPL 2023 – media rights have earned INR 48,390 cores (approximately).

All these proceedings in cricket business ,in micro and macro level, has wide implications. It directly affects the Circular Flow of Income in the economy. Giant demand of stocks and shares on the opening rate of a particular day and the speechless silent market towards the end of the same day is a indicating us that the Cricket and economics go hand-in—hand and it is always a Increasing returns to scale.

In the world where citizens are changed to netizens , the craze doesn’t stop here. Economists insights the use of incentives and mechanism design to create a demand for  Cricket which continues to entertain in this post pandemic economy.

The next season will emerge as a higher revenue generating ground because of its uniqueness and fan base.  Like Mukundhan, many will be joyful and their standard of living will multiply into many times in the upcoming season.

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