By design or fate, all things related to the Indian Premier League always start off with a bang. Be it action on the field or in the auction room. In 2008, Kiwi keeper Brendon McCullum kicked off the IPL era in Bangalore in grand style, with a 74-ball 158, after a memorable fireworks display funded by Vijay Mallya.
Snugly fitting into that narrative, and in the same city, the very first golden ball containing opener Gautam Gambhir's name landed in British auctioneer Richard Madley's hands, setting off a fierce four-cornered bidding war that eventually ended with Shah Rukh Khan's Knight Riders forking out a record $2.4 million.
Whether he merits the price tag is a debate fans could engage in for the next three years. What is certain is that the IPL has serendipitously hit upon a bonus idea of televised player auctions that, in many ways, are as exciting as some of the matches, and generate enough froth leading up to the cricket.
Has SRK, yet again, assembled a team of Cassandras? Can the vast coffers of the country's richest man buy peace between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds? Is Shane Warne still as good at leg-spin as he now is on the poker/bar table?
The two-day trading in Bangalore’s Royal Gardenia furthers the buzz around brand IPL. Vijay Mallya squaring up against Preity Zinta to enlist the services of a 20-year-old also makes for good TV.
As does the sight of seasoned entrepreneurs, who cut million-dollar deals for a living, nervously squeezing a stress ball when the auctioneer's hammer is about to go down on their preferred player. Not surprisingly, after the first round of closed-door auction in 2008, BCCI opted to beam the events live.
The IPL player auction is a unique event in the world of sportonomics. It's a combination of futures trading and the famed Pushkar cattle fair that’s now a tourist attraction. In 2008, Australian legend Adam Gilchrist couldn't quite come to terms with cricket’s laissez-faire and confessed to feeling “a bit like a cow”. “But it's interesting and unique,” he added.
No other big money franchise sport — football, baseball or basketball -- offers the public the perverse viewing pleasure of reputations being consigned to the dung heap (think Brian Lara and Sourav Ganguly, circa 2011) by hardnosed bean counters or newbies of modest means like Saurabh Tiwary and Rohit Sharma turning overnight millionaires.
For franchise owners, the entire IPL jamboree, and the auctions in particular, is a great opportunity to give their heirs a taste of business management. At almost every team table a member of the business family’s next generation was taking active part in the bidding process.
Gayatri Reddy, the daughter of Deccan Chronicle promoter Ram Reddy, made every bid and addressed the media, with her father often nodding in approval. Sahara group chairman Subrata Roy’s son Sushanto was the public face of the Pune Warriors franchise at the auction.
India Cements chairman N Srinivasan's son-in-law has been a hands-on manager for almost two years at Chennai Super Kings; and with Srinivasan facing uncomfortable questions about conflict of interest in his capacity as an
IPL governing council member and franchise owner, he has let Meiyappan represent the team’s ownership. Nattily dressed Siddharth Mallya was Vijay Mallya’s key confidant in this season's auction. He took an active role in advising his billionaire father on the extent of Royal Challengers bid and when to exit.
When he was miffed by Kings XI’s last-minute bid for Saurabh Tiwary, Mallya Junior took matters into his own hand by walking over to the Mohali team to express his displeasure. "Siddharth spent several days with team mentor Kumble to finalise the team’s wishlist and work out the auction economics,” says a key Bangalore franchise official. “He was as active as his father in drafting the team’s youth strategy.”
“It’s bit like rich fathers gifting their children a real-time Monopoly set,” says Santosh Desai, CEO Future Brands. "The auctions are glamorous, televised live and, like in any business, you have to make quick valuation decisions and have team composition in mind.
It offers a perfect platform for public visibility for CEO kids. Just as men of the family would do the real business and let a young relative handle ‘soft’ areas like advertising, Gen Next is being given a role in a new, exciting, high visibility enterprise.”
Snugly fitting into that narrative, and in the same city, the very first golden ball containing opener Gautam Gambhir's name landed in British auctioneer Richard Madley's hands, setting off a fierce four-cornered bidding war that eventually ended with Shah Rukh Khan's Knight Riders forking out a record $2.4 million.
Whether he merits the price tag is a debate fans could engage in for the next three years. What is certain is that the IPL has serendipitously hit upon a bonus idea of televised player auctions that, in many ways, are as exciting as some of the matches, and generate enough froth leading up to the cricket.
Has SRK, yet again, assembled a team of Cassandras? Can the vast coffers of the country's richest man buy peace between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds? Is Shane Warne still as good at leg-spin as he now is on the poker/bar table?
The two-day trading in Bangalore’s Royal Gardenia furthers the buzz around brand IPL. Vijay Mallya squaring up against Preity Zinta to enlist the services of a 20-year-old also makes for good TV.
As does the sight of seasoned entrepreneurs, who cut million-dollar deals for a living, nervously squeezing a stress ball when the auctioneer's hammer is about to go down on their preferred player. Not surprisingly, after the first round of closed-door auction in 2008, BCCI opted to beam the events live.
The IPL player auction is a unique event in the world of sportonomics. It's a combination of futures trading and the famed Pushkar cattle fair that’s now a tourist attraction. In 2008, Australian legend Adam Gilchrist couldn't quite come to terms with cricket’s laissez-faire and confessed to feeling “a bit like a cow”. “But it's interesting and unique,” he added.
No other big money franchise sport — football, baseball or basketball -- offers the public the perverse viewing pleasure of reputations being consigned to the dung heap (think Brian Lara and Sourav Ganguly, circa 2011) by hardnosed bean counters or newbies of modest means like Saurabh Tiwary and Rohit Sharma turning overnight millionaires.
For franchise owners, the entire IPL jamboree, and the auctions in particular, is a great opportunity to give their heirs a taste of business management. At almost every team table a member of the business family’s next generation was taking active part in the bidding process.
Gayatri Reddy, the daughter of Deccan Chronicle promoter Ram Reddy, made every bid and addressed the media, with her father often nodding in approval. Sahara group chairman Subrata Roy’s son Sushanto was the public face of the Pune Warriors franchise at the auction.
India Cements chairman N Srinivasan's son-in-law has been a hands-on manager for almost two years at Chennai Super Kings; and with Srinivasan facing uncomfortable questions about conflict of interest in his capacity as an
IPL governing council member and franchise owner, he has let Meiyappan represent the team’s ownership. Nattily dressed Siddharth Mallya was Vijay Mallya’s key confidant in this season's auction. He took an active role in advising his billionaire father on the extent of Royal Challengers bid and when to exit.
When he was miffed by Kings XI’s last-minute bid for Saurabh Tiwary, Mallya Junior took matters into his own hand by walking over to the Mohali team to express his displeasure. "Siddharth spent several days with team mentor Kumble to finalise the team’s wishlist and work out the auction economics,” says a key Bangalore franchise official. “He was as active as his father in drafting the team’s youth strategy.”
“It’s bit like rich fathers gifting their children a real-time Monopoly set,” says Santosh Desai, CEO Future Brands. "The auctions are glamorous, televised live and, like in any business, you have to make quick valuation decisions and have team composition in mind.
It offers a perfect platform for public visibility for CEO kids. Just as men of the family would do the real business and let a young relative handle ‘soft’ areas like advertising, Gen Next is being given a role in a new, exciting, high visibility enterprise.”
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