IPL, ICL are not Club Football

"The IPL will be a franchise-model wherein corporates and sponsors will be allowed to buy and run teams. "

"The franchisee will, however, collect the gate money and the income from in-stadia advertisements, and at a later stage can list the team on the stock exchange and trade."

Just two clippings of news on the launch of Indian Premier League, BCCI's Twenty20 league, and I get goose bumps. I remember sometime back consulting firm, Deloitte had introduced the Bullfighter, a tool to detect excessive business jargon in writing. The tool would have crashed if it read through the pronouncements made by promoters of IPL and, earlier ICL.

I don't mind jargon, and am honest enough to admit spewing some every now and then. But here the whole premise is flawed, and begets from misplaced notion of power that some of the marketing ilk, including Lalit Modi of BCCI have. And since most of them refer to European club football in general and English Premiership in particular as their model, it would be worthwhile to examine similarities if any.

The franchise of English (or Spanish or Italian) football clubs was not created by a marketing guru - it was created by their fans. Chelsea has learnt it the hard way, when with all the big name footballers in the world, and best marketing talent at its disposal, it couldn't fill 25,000 seats for a Champions League match, a number that fills in White Hart Lane every second week for Premiership one and a half times over. Chelsea has more money at its disposal than IPL franchises can dream of. On the contrary, Newcastle has been in financial doldrums, and hasn't won anything worthwhile but it is the one of the biggest football clubs in England.

Barcelona doesn't have a shirt sponsor, and Real Madrid isn't listed on a stock exchange. Barcelona team wears UNICEF logo on its shirt and that's why it is 'més que un club' (More than a Club). Each of these clubs have a history longer than that of BCCI, and have a strong socio-cultural dimension to them. Barcelona is about the Catalan identity and demand for a separate nation, Celtic-Rangers rivalry in Scotland has more than Catholic-Protestant undercurrents, Inter and AC Milan developed their rivalry as the clubs of 'bauscia' (nouveau riche) and 'casciavit' (literally screwdrivers, representing working class). Ask Modi and Subhash Chandra to go and buy this history, heritage and rivalry through franchises and stock exchanges. Even if they didn't leave this country and learnt from the history of their sport in their country, they would realise branded franchises cant even match the following and passion associated with Delhi-Mumbai Ranji trophy matches in 80s, or Karnataka against either of these in 70s.

One marketing expert on a TV program, while expressing disappointment about India's performance in the world cup and its impact on marketing investments of corporates, welcomed this leagues with the belief that now cricket will become a evergreen marketing opportunity. The lady was mistaken. Cricket is an evergreen marketing opportunity because 'Team India' is a franchise which will have a following despite ups and downs in its performance and whether it is marketed by any marketing wiz kid or not. Within six months of the world cup we have been through the success in England in test matches, a close one-day series, Twenty20 triumph and the disaster in one-dayers against the Aussies. The fans have celebrated wins and cursed, they have idolised Tendulkar one day and wanted him dropped from the team the next day, Karthik has moved from being a hero to a nimcompoop - the feelings are always extreme and there's never any detachment. And this is what captures the defines Club Football in Europe - irrational, extreme emotions of fans, but unwavering loyalty. Every Liverpool fan would be chanting 'You'll never walk alone' once he is in the stadium, completely in unison, but as much out of tune as an Indian fan shouting 'Jeetega Bhai jeetega..'. It makes sense to stregthen the only franchise that exists in Cricket, 'India' rather than creating some artifical ones - this isnt jingoism, but simple marketing commonsense based on available 'case studies'