The IPL (Indian Premier League)has partnered with Google to broadcast all 60 regular season games on Youtube. Read the story here or here.
The most significant aspect of the deal is the amount of control it gives the viewers, who will be able to customise their viewing experience by choosing between different camera angles. Additionally they will be able to freeze, fast-forward and rewind the feed, as well as watch replays at any time during the day, a choice that is unavailable to television viewers who are bound by broadcast schedules.
Now I am an educated man but I have no idea what the hell is going on with that game; I know they drink tea. I would, however, think this exposure could do nothing but help grow the sport and get me excited the next time someone takes ten wickets in one inning. If Google is in, it can't be all bad.
Sharing revenues from sponsorship to advertising.
MADNESS!!!!
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6 comments:
Madness indeed. I quite like watching historic races in blurry, color-bleached style. Showing live racing for free could induce hysteria.
When I was in India back in '98, I kid you not, they had blind cricket on TV there. Like, blind players. I'm still not even sure how blind cricket was possible. Yet it was on TV. I realize this comment adds little to your commentary, but I'm just saying ...
I actually played cricket a bit when I lived in New Guinea (it was introduced on the south side of the island by the London Missionary Society; on the north side, Irish Catholic priests from Boston taught the kids baseball). It's a terrific game, and the Indian Premier League is a great example of making changes to increase popularity. They've shortened five-day matches to one afternoon, got rid of the tea break, introduced colored uniforms in place of the traditional whites, and pioneered imaginative TV coverage, of which this deal is just the latest example. Lots to learn from, if racings execs would take a look.
BTW, ten outs are an innings; there are 11 on a side, and you need two batters out on the field at once, so if 10 are out, that's it. The traditional five-day matches consisted of two innings per side, and often ended in a draw, since not all the batters would be out within the five days. In IPL cricket, you just play a limited number of overs (eight pitches per over) and whoever's ahead when time runs out wins. Kinda like speeding up the racing day.
Do you think the colts will cover the spread this Sunday?
The subtext of this is so important for the potential of racing: what could happen if people were simply and pleasantly exposed to racing. Especially at little or no cost, many people will take a look, have a bet, or just sit and watch and learn.
It makes us want to scream over what could have been happening the past 40 years with decent planning and development of racing and breeding through differing media.
Frank.
Anon-I don't think we have anything to fear. After all, everybody knows change is bad.
Kerry-First, I must disabuse you of the notion that my commentary has any value in and of itself. Second, I would imagine keeping score in braille would prove challenging.
Steve-You had me right up to BTW...
Frank-It is tragically comic how the simplest, low-cost options are not exercised. The death grip all parties have on their share of an ever shrinking pie is just absurd.
As PTP put it so well, twenty years from now, MBA students will study this situation as a classic case of industry collapse.
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