Now imagine these roars getting replaced by the happy cheers of a few thousand school students as s0me of the biggest names in cricket fight it out in the middle. This is the new reality of Indian cricket. As more and more mind-numbing matches get played in series after series of no context and no drama, the stadium-going audience is the first thing that has taken a hit. Apart from a few marquee contests with context, most matches (usually India vs Sri Lanka in any format or test matches in general) these days are played in front of partially empty stadia - a sight unheard of till a few years ago.
What this mass exodus has done is, it has made the BCCI more benevolent. BCCI has started a program for schools to get their kids to the stadia for free by promoting the concept called "My Debut Match" - an initiative to get kids to watch their first cricket match, live in a stadium.
We believe the rationale behind this is to fill up the stadium seats and keep making some revenue from stadium advertising. Even as ratings plummet, TV rights and advertising rates continue to rise and more than make up for the fall in stadium revenue.
Are the school kids mere mannequins filling up the stadia whose deathly quiet would otherwise make for a very disturbing comment on the state of cricket in its favorite nation? Do brands have something to learn from BCCI's fleet-footedness in covering up and trying to emerge as a paragon of virtue from a damaging situation? What is the role of sales at an institutional level, in this case schools, in order to solve problems of low volumes in any business? Is sport a more acceptable part of the curriculum now?
Maybe its just as well that BCCI feels the need to promote the sport among the young. Maybe it will change the feudal way it runs the sport in the country. Maybe.
Photo credit - Sportskeeda.com
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