Economics of football broadcasting in India.
As a measure to involve more eyeballs, the kick-offs of some games in the recent years have been pulled back by FA in England to noon from the traditional late afternoon to allow Asia, especially Singapore and the South-east Asia to get games starting at 8 pm local time. Although not of particular bearing to India, but this move shows the importance given to the global fan and revenue stream by the FA. The games in India have 5.30 pm and 8.30 pm starts which means that they are half an hour (+/-) off the prime time slot. The starting times happen to slightly favour the Indian prime-time viewing too, but the fans would watch the Monday or Tuesday night late kick-offs as well if the club they support is playing, hence the motivation to watch is present.
Motives for EPL viewing
Times have changed since the pre-Independence British India when the poor followed football and cricket was aristocratic. Now and for the past decade too, it is the affluent middle-class youngsters who have become the new followers .A largely urban fan base, with fans in four metropolitan cities and their satellite towns, the motivating factors are many. The cities with fairly good following of the leagues are Trivandrum, Bangalore, Mangalore, Surat and Pune. For the followers it is also about differentiation. They do not want to be identified as cricket crazy .They would rather be true sports aficionados and know the difference between off-side of cricket and football.
The supporting of a club that is half way around the world doesn’t contribute to local, ethnic or national identity; rather it is an expression of individual identity. This need to stand out is the reason to embrace the exuberance and class of the EPL and in that a club to support and root for. And when there are enough people with a similar attitude, they form a sizable chunk of new fans, which is particularly observed in colleges where trends can be infectious. An example can be the city of Mangalore on the west coast of India, very close to where Manipal University is based with more than 20, 000 students. The adjoining regions of Udipi, Mangalore and Manipal and the student cluster over there ensures that Mangalore regularly features in Google trends of searches made regarding the English clubs even above, Kolkata and Pune.
The EPL follower in India is like a fantasy football manager of the club he supports. The use of ‘he’ here is deliberate as the fan is invariably a male. Quite analogous to the armchair quarterback myth in American Football. This fan is a passionate person, religiously following the games throughout the season consumed by the saga of his club’s fate. A positive result uplifts his mood and a terrible performance spoils it.
Indian media and football
The role of media in EPL popularity is also not a small one. By covering the EPL in the newspapers, the reader gets a gradual recognition of the players, teams and the league rivalries. Unlike England where the build-up and post-match reviews and analysis are found in the newspapers, India just carries the results in the following day’s newspapers. However the coverage is substantial especially in metro editions of leading tabloids and newspapers. What is also noticed that other leagues are given decreasingly low print-space. The Spanish League is next on the priority list followed by Serie A .Other teams from Europe like Bayern Munich or Shaktar Donetsk are mentioned only when UEFA Champions League games come along. And the Indian league and domestic tournaments are covered in the local or national sports section. But quite consistently, the EPL stories remain the headline grabbers.
In simple words, India is outsourcing its football entertainment now. Commercial interest of football in India is in the metros and big cities that have become used to seeing the best leagues beamed live into the living rooms and pubs. Increasingly Indians now clamour to buy their official merchandise to exhibit loyalty to respective clubs. This is largely because as on television, even in the newspapers, the visibility of European football is hard to miss. People would wear a club t-shirt as casual wear. Indians would however think more than twice to wear a Nike made Indian cricket jersey if it is not peak cricket season.
The creation of a national TV network and the simultaneous creation of a new consumerist middle class has helped EPL grow a great deal and while India may not have a Ji-Sung Park yet nor decent football parks, yet the game is slowly growing. The broadcasting administration is being quiet about their ambitions and doesn’t want to wage a war against cricket by entering into open competition with the number one sport. That is not going to happen in a very long while, but football is well on its way to become a very close second. The EPL has some major positives, and those being that EPL has a very good system and match schedule worked out which is spread over September–May, carefully addressing the issue of overkill by deft scheduling. Its only weakness is the same as an opportunity – it’s limited to urban areas and its satellite towns, so there lays tremendous room for improvement.
No comments:
Post a Comment