This weekend’s Superbowl — the championship game for America’s National Football League — is a prime example of the marriage of commercialisation and sports. On Sunday, millions of Americans will watch the New England Patriots play the New York Giants. But the sporting spectacle is in many ways the sideshow. Pop stars will perform during the half-time intermission, Hollywood actors and supermodels will grace the stands, and new advertising campaigns will be unveiled to televised audiences. So massive is the commercial appeal of the Superbowl, that a 30-second television advertisement during the game will cost an estimated $2.7 million, or Rs 10.6 crore.

The amount may appear staggering in India, where, despite the establishment of football and hockey leagues, professional club sports are still something of a novelty. But with the high-profile purchase of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises for fantastic prices, there appears a good likelihood that Indian domestic cricket may tread a similar path to American,

European or Japanese professional sports leagues.

The IPL represents the grandest, most ambitious experiment yet in professional sports in India. It is no surprise that the franchisees should include leading industrialists and Bollywood stars, all of whom are evidently banking on India’s insatiable appetite for cricket. But what investors may not have considered is the feeling of ownership or identity that must necessarily be instilled in supporters to ensure the enterprise’s long-term success. Kerry Packer’s experience with World Series Cricket notably demonstrated that a massive influx of investment alone was not enough to guarantee a sporting competition’s future.

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