The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has deferred the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) till April 15, the cricket administrative body said in a release on March 13.
"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to suspend IPL 2020 till 15th April 2020, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) situation," said Jay Shah, Secretary, BCCI in a statement.
While the decision is a step in the right direction considering the rapid spread of the virus in India, the move will have an impact on IPL, one of the biggest cricketing properties in India, currently valued at $6.7 billion.
"One thing is for certain, ticketing revenues are going to go bust. That is a loss of about Rs 400 crore to Rs 500 crore, largely to the franchises, said Sandeep Goyal, Chairman, Mogae Media.
He said that sponsors will be anxious, if not worried. "A lot of companies plan new launches, new variants, consumer offers and promotions linked to the IPL. So the entire marketing calendar will go through uncertainty," he said.
According to a latest report by Group M, the total ground sponsorship revenue across all sporting activities saw 25 percent growth in 2019 and this growth was mainly driven by cricket which delivered a strong growth of 43 percent with a total revenue of Rs 1,290 crore.
The report said that IPL had accelerated the scoring rate for cricket last year through continued association with partner brands. Vivo continued to partner the league as the Title Sponsor, while Tata Motors, Future Group and Star were official partners in 2019 also.
Paytm stayed on with the association as the Umpire Sponsor while Ceat Tyre continued the journey as the Strategic Time Out Partner. The year also saw Dream11 engaging the fervent cricket fans even more with their entry into the IPL fold as an Official Partner.
Along with sponsors, even television channels are at risk with IPL getting postponed.
"One facet nobody has considered is that the GECs (general entertainment channels) lie low during IPL. Brands may now scramble to other channels, most of whom are unprepared for the windfall," he added.
It was estimated that Star had chances to touch or exceed Rs 3,300 crore in ad sales this year.
For this edition 70 percent to 80 percent ad inventory is already sold, said Goyal.
The balance ad inventory is still available and Star will kind of stay banked, he added.
"If the postponement is not extended, it (remaining ad inventory) will sell well. If the tournament gets truncated, some of this inventory may go unsold," said Goyal.
But will IPL's new schedule upset the cricket calendar for 2020?
"These days the cricket calendar is almost 300 days for a team like India. The postponement, if only for 2 weeks can still be adjusted in the calendar or there may be many more double header matches packed into a shorter IPL. But if the IPL gets pushed to beyond 15th April, venues like Delhi, Mohali, etc will become unplayable after mid-May," he said.
He also added that the tournament has been shifted to 15th April may be because foreign players would not have got their visas to come.
No foreign players will be available until April 15 due to visa restrictions.
"One cannot be sure if the coronavirus situation will improve or deteriorate in a month from now. One thing is for sure, that the matches this year will most likely be to empty stadiums, that is if the IPL happens at all," he added.
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