Almost a religion: what cricket means to India
If you ask a European what the second most popular sport in the world is, after football, they are unlikely to give the right answer. Meanwhile, one of the most actively developing sports now, which has overtaken all sports except classic football, is cricket. It has been a huge success in India, Bangladesh, Australia and some other countries. This game, somewhat reminiscent of baseball or lapta, unites millions of spectators and athletes. Experts estimate that nine out of ten TV viewers in India watch cricket. The top Indian Premier League broadcasts attract more than six hundred million viewers. This is despite the fact that some matches in this sport can last for days.
Let’s tell you a little bit about what’s going on in this exotic sport right now and how it became so popular.
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A bit of history
Cricket itself is hard to call strictly an Indian heritage. He came to the country together with the English colonists. And in England itself, the game has been known for more than seven hundred years. At the beginning of the last century, cricket was even presented at the Olympic Games, but only once.
In India, this game has caught on very well. It is played by children, adults and spontaneous competitions between streets. But for a long time this sport did not bring money. The first impetus to its success in the country was in 1983, when the Indian team won the World Cup for the first time. You can understand how difficult it was for the players then, if only by the fact that they simply did not have a pass for the match that brought them the World Cup. They simply did not have enough money. And in the nineties, the organisers of the local national league even had to pay extra to the channels to broadcast.
The situation changed dramatically not so long ago, just about fifteen years ago. It was then that the Indian Premier League as we see it now was created. At the moment, there are ten teams in it, top broadcasting networks are competing for the right to broadcast, and the budgets that revolve in this area are estimated to be in the billions of dollars.
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So now cricket is experiencing an unprecedented rise. It is even now on the Olympic programme and is scheduled to be played at the next Summer Olympics in 2028.
Sport as a national idea
More than sixty per cent of people in India have played cricket as children or adults. Badminton is the second most popular sport in the country, followed by cycling. Cricket is leading the pack with a steady 20 per cent lead over its nearest competitor.
In fact, every family, irrespective of wealth, social status or any other beliefs has at least one person associated with the sport. Not surprisingly, it is now something of a unifying idea for the entire population of the country. The rich play in stadiums, while the poorer ones play on beaches or in rice paddies that are not occupied by rice in the dry season. Almost every small village in India has a ground where the locals play cricket.
What is interesting is that cricket broadcasts do not attract the attention of men only, as is the case with football in Europe. This entertainment is for family viewing. Women, children, grown men – everyone gathers around the screens and in the many stadiums when IPL matches are on. People fit their weekends and holidays around the finals. Research shows that more than forty per cent of cricket spectators are women of different ages.
There is another interesting feature that distinguishes local fans from European fans. It is a special reverence for their team. Its winning is always an occasion for celebrations, noisy and crowded.
But losing almost never leads to aggression. The team is not accused of playing badly, it is considered bad form to express any negativity in that direction.
Big popularity – big money
The IPL is now one of the most lucrative leagues in the whole world. In 2022, league officials signed two broadcasting contracts that totalled over $6 billion. Very quickly, the league began to bring in significant money due to its immense popularity and large population in the country. India is home to about one and a half billion people, most of whom watch the IPL. And advertisers are happy to reach out to this huge audience. And there are countries nearby where the game is equally popular, with about half a billion more people.
Interestingly, cricket is beginning to gradually move beyond the borders of the former British colonies. In total, its championship in 2019 was watched by around two billion people around the world. Yes, football is still more popular, with the top championships attracting 2-3 times the broadcast audience. But given the fact that the active development here began less than twenty years ago, it can be argued that soon this sport will come very close in popularity to its main competitor.
Cricket in all walks of life
It is impossible to do business in India and not be interested in cricket. Every business in the country tries to attract the attention of fans in one way or another. Among other things, local casinos and bookmakers have turned their attention to it. For an example, you can take the Pin up India project. This is a bookmaker, which brought exactly cricket to the first lines in its tops. Here, bets on the IPL and other cricket leagues are accepted, many broadcasts are conducted in the ‘live’ mode. It is on this sports discipline that opens the largest number of lines.
Moreover, in the selection of slots casinos there are machines, in one way or another related to these sports, and for advertising the bookmaker attracted top athletes, including from the IPL. And this approach allowed Pin up India to become one of the most popular – online-pin-up.in projects in the local market.