Play Like FIFA
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
There is a simple rule in economics which the greedy forget. It is called the law of diminishing marginal utility. It states the common sense principle that the more you have of something, the less you will any more of it.
Since the International Cricket Council doesn't seem to have heard of this rule, it is killing the goose that lays its golden eggs. It needs to learn from FIFA which carefully rations the amount of nationalism driven international football. By sticking to basics, it has continued to keep the FIFA World Cup as the most important sporting event in the world.
Too many tournaments
Contrast this with the upcoming 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup which India is to host. The tournament seems to be facing its biggest identity crisis yet. Innumerable cricket tournaments every other week have rendered the matches nothing more than marketing exercises for companies sponsoring the events.
In international football, the World Cup is beyond a doubt the premier event and by far. By keeping it so, the passion of the players remains intact even though the tournament always comes after a gruelling year of domestic club football.
While FIFA earned a whopping $3.2 billion approximately from the sale of broadcast rights to the 2010 World Cup, the ICC garnered only $1.2 billion from the sale of broadcast rights to its event for an eight-year period. This would include three World Cups, five World T20s and at least three Champions Trophy tournaments.
Players like Miroslav Klose of Germany epitomise how much the World Cup means to players.
Klose, for example, had an average club career but is at present the second highest goal scorer in World Cup history, and has equalled the longstanding record of Gerd Muller. The commitment of the players wearing their national colours at the World Cup results in tightly fought matches, which in turn help in boosting viewership.
Cricket players, on the other hand, looked and played like they were jaded at ICC's World T20. Jaded players resulted in a muted response from fans who, after 40 days of the Indian Premier League, were given a dose of the ICC World T20.
The FIFA World Cup this year is expected to be witnessed by not less than 26 billion viewers worldwide, the same as in the 2006 edition. Cricket's viewership for the 2007 edition of the ICC World Cup, at 2 billion, pales in comparison.
FIFA earns close to $1.2 billion from sponsors by sale of marketing rights. The ICC, on the other hand, could muster only $500 million from sponsors, and that too by clubbing the two World Cups of 2011 and 2015.
Apart from ICC World T20 events every two years and an ICC Champions Trophy in the intervening years, the cricketing calendar is splattered with increasingly repetitive bilateral tournaments. India and Sri Lanka for example have played each over and over again in bilateral tours in both the countries and multinational events as well.
Packed calendar
In such packed cricketing calendar, the memories disappear faster than a Brett Lee bouncer. The 2007 ICC World Cup was a huge disappointment in terms of ticket sales and viewership.
No one recalls it except in the context of Bob Woolmer's death. But memories of 2006 FIFA World Cup and Zidane's rush of blood where he head-butted an opponent is still fresh in memory.
The other aspect where FIFA scores over the ICC is technology.
Despite criticism, FIFA has decided to stick by its decision not to bring in a TV referee. And to its credit, it has helped maintain the charm of the sport — with players' skills, tactics and even a little bit of luck playing a role.
FIFA's strict rules about no government interference in football associations have also allowed the game to flourish. A far cry from cricket's administration, which is replete with politicians. The new ICC President is Mr Sharad Pawar, a member of the Government, while his opponent, Mr John Howard was the former Prime Minister of Australia.
The lessons are there to be learnt for cricket's bosses. To bring the game out of its rut, the administration should for a few years forget about filling its coffers and do what it's supposed to, promote the game of cricket.
Else, marginal utility will soon turn negative — probably it already has. @
Labels: FIFA, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011
posted @ 3:33 PM,
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