IPL organisational strategies: can we leverage them to promote other sports in India

Abstract

India being an emerging nation in international sports arena with the entry of Indian Premier League (IPL) showcases the potential of conducting similar events in the course of the future of its sports history by featuring various popular sports in Indian land such as Hockey, Tennis and Football etc. All this seems achievable with opening of various other leagues such as Golf Premier League (GPL) in the near future. These days almost every sport is trying to gain popularity among masses by conducting various glamorized and commercial events. However in order to fully appreciate and understand the dynamics and differing perspectives of sports marketing, it is imperative that this task of marketing through sports should be accepted as an integral component to industry. To understand this better, the report enclosed consists of detailed analysis of three sports popular in India namely, Cricket, Football and Hockey. The objective of this research is to successfully analyze the organizational strategies adopted by BCCI to successfully launch six IPL seasons. Also, the state of other sports organizers will be studies in this report to provide them suggestive techniques to increase their viewership and popularity. The methodology followed consists of three main dependent variables, namely hockey following, willingness to follow hockey and favorite hockey promotion. The key findings from in-depth interviews of sports enthusiasts and non-sports enthusiasts are also mentioned. Based on the findings of these in-depth interviews a survey questionnaire was framed and floated among youth. Survey received response from 73% of male and 27% female students most of them belonging to age group 15-25 years and most of them falls in family income bracket of 5-10 lakhs. The regression analysis is conducted on the data obtained through these surveys.The study indicates that the preference of young generation to follow a sport is moving beyond cricket towards other sport. In fact they want hockey to be promoted in India and are willing to follow the same of they see some change in the hockey events. One thing well established is that now audience look for more entertainment which will involve them to a larger extent in game. However the factors driving success of IPL are not well suited to be used for hockey except few of them.