The Indian Premier League continues to strengthen its influence on global cricket. The Rajasthan Royals became the latest IPL franchise to acquire a majority stake in a Caribbean Premier League team, this time it was the Barbados Tridents – now renamed to the Barbados Royals – ahead of the upcoming 2021 CPL season.
Can the partnership help Rajasthan return to winning ways?
Barbados is a two-time CPL champion, coming out on top in 2014 and most recently in 2019. That’s not been the case for the RRs in the IPL lately though, and perhaps the Royal Sports Group hopes that extending their reach across the cricketing world will bring back the winning feeling in Rajasthan.
1323 CPL runs, 8 CPL 50s 1 CPL 100, 70 CPL 6s
Royals family, join us in welcoming our newest member, one of the most prolific openers this tournament has seen, Glenn Philips who will be in Barbados colours for CPL 21. pic.twitter.com/KIgtSkMDPV
— Barbados Royals (@BarbadosRoyals) August 13, 2021
The Royals won the first edition of the IPL in 2008 but since then have never finished higher than a third. The best betting sites in India will have odds available on every IPL match as well as the outright winner, top batsman, top bowler, and many more markets.
IPL 2021 Points Table: IPL 14 standings, Points Table and Net Run-Rate
Expanded role for Sangakarra
Royals Director of Cricket, Kumar Sangakarra, will help oversee the CPL team too. The former Sri Lanka international spoke of using players in the Caribbean side to “innovate and develop strategies” as part of the Royals group. While improving the T20 strategy is a worthy cause for the team who have struggled to climb the IPL ladder of late, it remains to be seen how much can be learned from a different competition played on the other side of the world with vastly differing squads.
Following in the footsteps of KKR and Punjab Kings
The first IPL franchise to extend its influence to the West Indies was Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR’s owners and parent company – Red Chillies Entertainment – purchased Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel in 2015. The franchise was subsequently renamed the Trinbago Knight Riders to align with their new Indian-based ownership. It was the same story earlier this year when the newly renamed Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab) purchased St Lucia Zouks. KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited now owns both franchises and spoke of their desire to “take the franchise to the next level… and showcase St Lucia in the best possible light over the coming years.” Given Indian players can’t play in overseas T20 tournaments though, there is little chance of seeing the IPL’s stars heading to the Caribbean anytime soon.
A global audience remains the aim for IPL franchises
Although the visibility of the IPL is already spectacular, these strategic acquisitions are likely part of a branding exercise for the IPL owners which is designed to find new fans from the opposite side of the globe. The competition dominates in India, with the 2020 edition attracting record-breaking audiences including 200 million viewers for the opening match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. 2021’s figures were less encouraging, but given the global landscape, it wasn’t a surprise to see a drop in overall viewership. Those numbers could well rebound when the second half of the campaign gets underway.
IPL 2021: List of Purple Cap holder and Orange cap Holder in IPL 2021
Like India, the Caribbean is a region that loves their cricket, so IPL franchises looking to align with teams from their T20 domestic competition make sense both in terms of advertising, sponsorship, and the overall value of global rights. They will no doubt look to cultivate more fans from the West Indies which will help drive up the value of the broadcasting deal, which will be up for renewal for the 2023 season and beyond. Star India currently holds the global rights for the IPL, which cost around 16,347 crores ($2.1 billion) and took effect in 2018.
Leave a Reply