The Hindu : A money-spinner that has marginalised fans

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 17, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

A money-spinner that has marginalised fans

If there had not been the beginnings of an India-Pakistan inter-governmental peace process, there would be no India-Pakistan cricket. But the welcome renewal of the fiercest rivalry in world sport owes nearly as much to commerce as it does to politics. Of course, in a globalised economic order the two are inseparable, and the current series promises to illustrate that uncomfortable reality.

It also promises to be the biggest money-spinner in the history of south Asian sport — remarkable given that it is not a global but a bi-national competition. Broadcasters, sponsors, advertisers, merchandisers, newspapers, the PR industry (not to mention the bookies) have all been scrambling for a piece of the action.

What attracts the profiteers here is the scale of popular interest in this rivalry, the intensity of the passions it arouses. In a globalised economy, local connections (or the appearance thereof) become useful assets (politically and commercially). And national identity becomes a precious commodity — available for a price to those who can afford it.

A visitor from another planet watching the television coverage might be forgiven for thinking that this was a game played by Sahara and Pepsi and refereed by Samsung and Hero Honda. Certainly, the televisual space occupied by corporate logos is many times greater than the space occupied by the national standards of the two competing sides. Of course, as sports fans we have become inured to this peculiar late twentieth century custom. We look past the logo without pausing to consider it. That subliminal impact suits the sponsors, who do not want potential consumers examining their appeals too closely, too consciously.

It is Samsung's name that is ever-present, intruding into the picture frame no matter who's batting or bowling. The Korean electronics giant arrived in India in December 1995 and now commands 17% of the Indian television market. (Last year Indians purchased twelve lakh Samsung colour TVs.) The corporation has diligently cultivated Indian roots by sponsoring the national squads at the Asian Games and the Sydney Olympics, as well as last year's `Legends of India' classical music festival and the International Indian Film Awards.

This series is Samsung's first foray into cricket. The $4 million paid to the PCB for the title sponsorship (Hero Honda chipped in another $1.5 million for co-sponsorship) is an impressive figure — a record for a one-off bilateral cricket series — but it should be placed in context. The company has invested several times that amount in its global tie up with the Warner Brothers `Matrix' cinema franchise. And like other multi-nationals, Samsung takes out more than it puts back in: last year Indian consumers handed over Rs. 2,800 crore to the company (more than one hundred times what it has paid to the cricket authorities), contributing modestly but significantly to its $6 billion annual profit.

The cricket sponsorship is part of Samsung's long-term corporate strategy, its pursuit of what it calls `global digital convergence leadership'. Like the other corporations involved in the game, it seeks `synergy' — a kind of magical mantra referring to the mutual enhancement of all the multi-nationals' various activities. The India-Pakistan matches offer access not only to the Indian and Pakistani domestic markets, but also to sections of markets in Europe, North America, south-east Asia and the middle east. For a company selling hi-tech products on every continent, south Asian cricket is excellent value, thanks to the ever-burgeoning diaspora and particularly that section of it with increasing disposable income.

Of the vast sums that will change hands in relation to the cricket, only a small fraction will find its way into the game's coffers. Samsung's expenditure on the title sponsorship, for example, is only one third of its total investment in the series. It plans to spend an additional $6-7 million `leveraging' the sponsorship — through advertising, in-store promotions, etc. While the series is certainly a windfall for the PCB, those who profit most from it financially will have little to do with the game. When it's over, they'll move on to the next exploitable arena.

The paradox is that while the India-Pakistan series is being hyped as a great south Asian popular spectacle with an unprecedented mass reach, its economic weight derives from the access it gives to a targeted minority of the south Asian population. The wrangle between Dubai-based Ten Sports and Doordarshan over television rights is merely the latest reminder that the compulsions of the market frequently undercut the requirements of an inclusive democracy. Meanwhile, the clout of the big corporations marginalises the (always limited) power of the fans, whose function these days is largely to provide a colourful backdrop for the televised imagery. The PCB will collect as much from the sale of one 20-by-three-foot advertising board on the boundary as it will from a day's paid admissions. Inevitably, the reality of that balance will increasingly intrude into the cricket authorities' calculations.

This series is representative sport with a vengeance. That's why it's worth so much to the corporations. The spin about `friendship' and `uniting communities' is mere packaging. Multi-national corporations want to identify themselves with the aspirations of India's consumer classes — and that is not necessarily the same thing as promoting sub-continental peace and dialogue.

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