Indian Premier League - An emotion that evokes a plethora of zeal among millions of Indians, and binds the nation in competitive spirit as millions of fans support their favorite teams in their quest to become the Champions of India.
This story started in the year 2008 when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to host a franchise-based tournament between different teams representing different cities. As the seasons passed by, the fame that the Indian Premier League gained was unprecedented. The intensity of the game grew by leaps and bounds and so did the passion among the fans. This competition served as the perfect platform for aspiring young cricketers as they got a chance to improve their skill-set and perform under the guidance of experienced players. The brand value of IPL 2019 stood at a whopping ₹475 billion, just imagine the figure over a period of two months.
But legend has it that some things are just too good to be true…
In the year 2015, after being alleged of the crime of spot-fixing, two of the biggest franchises of IPL, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were handed a 2-year ban from the tournament. Their officials were found guilty of engaging in illegal betting and other corrupt practices that hampered the spirit of the game. After a whole lot of drama, this decision turned out to be quite disastrous for the players of the two teams and other youth cricketers who were waiting for their chance to showcase their talent to the audience. Two new teams in the names of Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants were added to fill the hole left by Chennai and Rajasthan. Certainly, it was a huge blow to the audience who watched the game for its elegance and authenticity.
In the year 2020, due to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the tournament was delayed to the month of September and is being hosted in United Arab Emirates (UAE). One of the most interesting facts of this IPL was handing the prime sponsorship of the tournament to Dream 11, a fantasy sports platform where you can bet and win money on the matches being played. This sponsorship cost the company a bizarre sum of ₹222 crores.
Well, I hope you have noticed the irony that describes the situation.
Two years ago, IPL was suffering from uncountable claims alleging it for providing a platform to the bookies and people engaged in illegal betting. And now, it hands over its first name to a company that has legalised betting. Moreover, this is not the end of the story. Other platforms like Mobile Premier League (MPL), My11Circle, MyTeam11 have also been granted the opportunity to promote the tournament. A platform named Gamezy allows users to bet on short-term contests, and this is nothing but the remake of betting sites just like a Bollywood movie. These apps use famous celebrities and cricketers in order to engage more audience and thus increase their in-app traffic. Everyone might have noticed Dream11 being promoted by the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and other famous Indian cricketers. Moreover, Mr. Sourav Ganguly is also shown promoting My11Circle where he challenges the audience to beat the team he has made. There are numerous advertisements of these companies that are shown during the matches being played, and seeing their favorite cricketers promote them, most of the Indians engage in these platforms and ultimately get addicted to it.
Here’s a glimpse of an advertisement by MPL that shows how misleading they can be to the innocent audience so as to encourage them to invest money into their platforms.
My question over here is – How can the administrator’s hand over the title of a prestigious competition like the IPL to companies that facilitate betting knowing the repercussions it has caused in the past? Was there a proper system in place for the credit check of these apps? Is this the right way to promote sports by providing the audience a chance of winning cash by guessing the scores? Well, there are many questions unanswered here. One thing that has valid evidence here is that many people have lost a fortune while engaging in betting and there are numerous cases of suicides being committed based on these gambling techniques.
Therefore, according to me, there is a fine line between betting and guessing unless you bring the factor of money into it. Since all of the sporting apps promote people to invest small amounts in order to make their teams, this causes the major problem here. You might be thinking that what will a small amount, say Rs. 11, do to influence these platforms. Well, you can multiply this amount by a million as there are huge numbers who engage in these games. Despite Dream11 having the legal clearance of it as a non-betting game, I believe it shouldn’t have been given the title since it promotes betting and engages people by teaching them what they should not learn. The IPL is hosted to bolster the very spirit of the game of cricket, where fans witness the best of the players playing together and against each other. If we try to factor in the money game in here, it really does diminish the authenticity it portrays and displays to the audience. IPL, being the biggest cricket tournament of the world, should have some designated policies and procedures in place for these situations that ensure smooth functioning of the game.
