ATTRACTING & RETAINING STAR PLAYERS – Africa’s
Tournament
In order to continue its
position as the world’s leading 20-20 tournament the IPL must remain to attract
& retain those players at the peak of the game whose skill &
personality capture the thoughts of the cricketing community. Failure to do so
will downgrade the IPL to the ranks of other local Twenty20 competitions.
The safety concerns that
resulted in South Africa becoming the host tournament is a potentially damaging
issue, not to comment the 75% drop in gate receipts. Many players were seeking promises
prior to agreeing to take part in IPL 3 following threats from the Al-Qaeda’s active
arm in Pakistan. The mishap of the Sri Lanka’s team in Lahore last year, the killing
of the Angola’s footballers in African Cup of Nations & the recent bomb
blast in Pune highlight a very tangible threat to their safety. Another alike
incident in India will make players think long & hard about their contribution
such that no amount of ‘danger money’ would reward them for the apparent risk
involved for a number of years.
The more and more crowded
cricketing calendar limits the accessibility of the few real star players, even
the greatest mercenary talents who want to maximize their earnings during their
moderately short careers cannot be in 2 places at once & need a break to
avoid burnout, recover from injuries & spend time with family. Australia’s
Ricky Ponting & England’s Stuart Broad both indicated to miss out on the
substantial revenue they could earn in the IPL in order to focus on their national
commitments. The competition to bond the finite number of star players is
fierce, the $1.49 million contracts for England’s Pietersen & Flintoff who
are only open for a 3 week window due to international commitments obviously
demonstrates the dynamics of the supply demand arc.
PLAYER VS
FRANCHISE VALUE
MS Dhoni is the world’s highest
earning cricketer according to Forbes with an earnings of $20 million of which
$16 million is produced from endorsements from 20 corporate sponsors including Pepsi,
General Electric and, Reebok. Even if we limit ‘brand Dhoni’s’ income to his
endorsement income, he generates incomes equivalent to Chennai Super Kings
brand value in perpetuity $76.1 million in a little over 7 years. Still only 33,
he has plenty of cricket left in him and has scope to continue generating
earnings from his name long after he retires such that the Dhoni brand may be
worth 3 to 4 times the current brand value of the franchise he represents.
Certainly no player should be superior
to the team, and this is correct on the field of play as Chennai have a brilliant
squad but commercially it is inevitable as the IPL franchise brands are still
new even in contrast to the established cricket stars of today. It takes numerous
years to build brand equity, ultimately the franchises with develop sufficient legacy
littered with great names such that the franchise brand will have the central
role. Dhoni’s ‘endorsement’ of Chennai Super Kings promptly creates an
association with the team & Dhoni’s success & flamboyance. It is only a
problematic if Dhoni commits a subjective PR disaster on a scale of Tiger Woods
that if fared badly by Chennai Super Kings could hinder the development of its
brand in the short-term.
While several supporters may
associate Chennai with Dhoni, most supporters link Dhoni with India. It is
debatable whether the player vs franchise brand dynamic will ever alterat given
that all the top players’ reputations stem from playing for their national team
who they exemplify far more often than any other team. Developing capacity
internally rather than just buying it in will go some way to readdressing the
balance but it is unlikely that the brand vigorous could ever be reversed totally.
Locally settled talent not only tends to be extra committed to the team but
also offers supporters a focal point & role models with whom they can
relate & aspire to emulate.