Marketing IPL 2.0 – Live cricket in theatres

Imagine, watching ODI match alone in your home, India needs 10 to win in the last over with 2 wickets left. What will you do? You may bite your nails, sit on the edge of the seat glued to the TV or pray God. Now imagine the same scenario but watching the match in a common place with a group of friends. You may start clapping your hands as the bowler starts his run up, shout slogans supporting India, curse the batsman for every dot ball, cheer louder for the misfield. You will get more involved in the game, showing your emotions.

I had great time watching India-Australia 2001 series in our college hostel, enjoyed the 2003 world cup sitting in the Marina beach in front of a giant screen, celebrated with strangers as Ganguly answered Flintof in the Natwest series in England watching the match in front of a TV showroom.

cricket fan

Watching cricket is more fun when you are with a group of fans. Why can’t the organizers do more to help the fans have more fun watching the match? Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi, should strive to bring as many fans as possible out of home to watch the match. Only people in the cities have easy access to the stadiums. One easy option to get more fans out of home is to give the telecast rights to the Cinema halls.

In fact in the last IPL season itself, multiplexes like Adlabs and Cinemax were interested in telecasting theĀ  Twenty20 matches, but the deal didn’t materialize. BCCI and Sony should not overcharge and kill this golden duck. Instead they can experiment this T20 season and see if there is a trend change happening by helping the theater owners to keep the ticket price affordable. They can collaborate with the Cine multiplexes for different advertising options in tickets, within cinema halls, and other special marketing promotions to generate additional revenue.

Fans will be happy, as they no longer need to fight with their mothers over TV serials, Advertisers will be happy as they know fans don’t have the remote to change the channel in between overs. Team franchise owners will be happy as they have options to reach the dedicated fans in tier II cities and towns directly. BCCI will be happy as the brand IPL will grow even stronger.

Will IPL 2.0 change the way the game is watched in India?

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