Ever since its inception, the Indian Premier League has been seen by many as more of an entertainment entity rather than a pure cricketing one. Cheerleaders, glamour, big money and the festive mood inside stadia has changed the game. And while the huge money and popularity of the league proved to be a boon for the BCCI as far as its coffers and unearthing talents were concerned, it also drew several controversies over the years.
However, it seems the new broadcasting right holders of the IPL; STAR is going to change the way the IPL had been played. Sony Pictures broadcasted the first ten seasons of the IPL, and they did not leave a single chance of adding glamour quotient to it, From girls dancing in studios to commentators wearing the traditional kurta-pyjama, Sony did it all. However, after pipping Sony Pictures Network to acquire the IPL media rights, including both TV and digital rights for five years (2018-2022), with an enormous global bid of INR 16,347.50 crores (USD 2.55 billion), STAR has made it clear that cricket will be its utmost priority.
“You have seen on STAR Sports (that) our focus is strictly on the sport. We believe that the spotlight should be on the sport and we will continue to do that… I am not commenting on what anybody else does,” Uday Shankar, CEO of Star, told Hindustan Times.
STAR Sports also holds the broadcasting rights of the Indian team, but Shankar refused to accept that STAR India had a monopoly over the Indian cricket market.
“Our BCCI rights get over in less than six months and the Indian team, over the next few years, is going to be travelling abroad so much, and we don’t have the England and Australian board rights. With IPL, we have a breather,” said Shankar.
Shankar further said that the controversies had not stopped the IPL from progressing over the last ten years.
“Whatever controversies might have been, they have been there all the time, but the IPL has gone on to become bigger and bigger. It is for the news media, we are a sports broadcaster,” Shankar said.
“In each bid, you put in large sums of money of your company only because at that time it is the most sensible thing to do. Right now, we have done this because our BCCI rights were coming to an end and we wanted to redefine our cricket package,” he concluded