Sport or Entertainment?

Sport: (noun) an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others.

Sport is revered for its skill, competitiveness and sportsmanship. The phrase “be a sport” urges the listener to take the situation in a positive sense.

This sport is often seen as a mode of entertainment. WWE, telecast on the sports channels (and off late, on aaj tak as well, thanks to Khali hai bali phrase) has the word “entertainment” in its name. That’s because people want to be entertained, even in the name of sport.

We Indians are crazy about cricket. I have seen the cola giants cashing on the cricket matches, irrespective of who wins. An India Pakistan match can even vacate the traffic from the oft crowded roads. It is this kind of popularity that takes cricket from a sport to a new genre of entertainment.

We had a first class cricket, where players of both sides played two innings each in 5 days, demonstrating their dexterity in the game. Things changed when it was decided that 5 days is too long a period, people want results fast. And a 1 day was born. It became hugely popular, 50 over a side matches got over in a day. It was a full day entertainment.

In 2007, we came to know of 20-20 cricket. The runs came faster and the game got over in two hours. Who cares about the skill or the style? Runs are to be made by all means possible. And people loved it. It was all the more thrilling because India had something to cheer about (the first 20-20 world up champions)

I hope the overs won’t get any lesser. Till now, we have been enjoying matches between countries, states and districts. The quest for more entertainment brought a plethora of leagues into the cricket parlance. We had the IPL who invested billions to “buy” players, irrespective of where they come from. There is no pride for the country, but for the team. Cricket is slowly moving towards a football club kind of a framework.

The franchisees have paid the players and they need to pay the stadium for each match, besides the marketing expenses. Their revenues come from advertising only. But the big question is, will it sustain? Will people flock to grounds? Only time will tell.

After IPL, there is the ICL with another set of teams. So many teams will only add to the confusion of the Indian masses looking for entertainment. I find such cricket as galli muhalla cricket. The recent Edelweiss 20-20 matches didn’t seem to find many takers (I found the stadiums empty).

SRK called it an investment, and emphasized the fact that he did not sponsor a hockey league because it is not profitable enough (though he was open to convert more sports into entertainment).

We do not know if SRK or Dada charm will have an effect, but at least the players are laughing their way to the bank


http://www.financialexpress.com/news/IPL-franchisees-set-to-turn-cricket-into-entertainment/275723/