The Franchise Formula: Can it work Across Every Sport?

Ever since the birth of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, summers in India have a festival-like atmosphere revolving around the game of cricket and for good reason. The IPL is a well-made cocktail of ingredients which appeal to the Indian viewer- the fast paced, dramatic style of the tournament which appeals to both the hardcore and casual viewers, and the glitz, glamour and entertainment blending cricket with the celebrity culture.

It also conceived the idea of Franchise sports to the world. Let us deep dive into what exactly is Franchise sports and how successful it has been in the last two decades.

To put it quite simply, Franchise sports is a system where an individual team (Franchise) is owned and operated by a private owner or company. To put this in the context of the IPL, Shah Rukh Khan owning the Kolkata Knight Riders; the Ambani’s owning the Mumbai Indians; etc. The owners invest their money into the league and profit from ticket sales, merchandise, sponsorships, etc.

Could this revolutionize how Sports Leagues function?

Before we go any deeper, let us understand- was the IPL the first Franchise league in the world? Well, not quite. The American sports leagues- the National Football League (NFL); the National Basketball Association (NBA); Major League Soccer (MLS) have been running using this model since the early 1900’s. The IPL though was the first franchise league in cricket, revolutionizing the way the sport is played, marketed and consumed.

Breaking down the success formula of the Indian Premier League

The Indian Premier League, still in its teen years since formation has become the richest cricket league in the world. Its current media rights amount to Rs 48,390 crore (6.2 Billion USD) for 2023-2027 and the per match value of over 15 Million USD is ranked second only behind America’s National Football League (NFL).

There a variety of success factors behind the same:

· The format of the game is fast paced and matches last close to 3-4 hours. This appeals to the die-hard fans and casual fans.

· There is massive Star Power in the league not only in terms of cricket stars (Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma), but also in terms of celebrities off the field with a host of Bollywood Stars and Businessmen either directly investing into the league or being involved as Brand Ambassadors.

· It has improved fan engagement through catchy team names, slogans, theme songs, merchandise.

· It helped unearth new talent to the Indian Cricket Team, like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya to the more recent 14 year old sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

· It also led the way for other franchise leagues in India to follow suit, from trying to popularize local Indian Sports like Kabaddi (with the Pro Kabaddi League) and Kho-Kho (with the Ultimate Kho-Kho), and improving popularity and performance of some global sports in India with Football (the Indian Super League) and Badminton (the Premier Badminton League) and also more recently the Indian Pickleball League.

Can every sport adopt the franchise league format successfully?

The success of a franchise league format relies in its viewership numbers and the revenue in generates. While the Indian Premier League has been a massive success, there are also leagues which have not been able to sustain themselves including:

· The Super Fight League, was a mixed martial arts based sports league formed in India by Sanjay Dutt and Raj Kundra in 2012. It could not garner the viewership and revenue, and has been defunct since 2018.

· The Premier Badminton League has not been hosted since Covid because of difficulty sustaining star attraction

· The Pro Wrestling League lasted only between 2015-2019 because of disputes between the Wrestling Federation of India and broadcasters.

There is also the case of European Football, where 12 major European Clubs including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United attempted to form a break-away European Super League in 2021 and form a league of their own. This was met with widespread discontent among football fans and the idea fell apart within 48 hours.

What are the common pitfalls in the franchise sports model?

There are some key factors which could hamper the success of a franchise sports model:

· Franchise Leagues depend heavily on big stars to attract audiences. There could come a time where the star power becomes saturated, and the interest slowly dwindles in the leagues. This is currently being faced by the National Basketball Association (NBA) where star players like Steph Curry and LeBron James are aging and the viewership numbers are starting to drop. A similar situation could arise in the IPL when Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni decide to retire.

· One of the main issues could be a Brand Identity Challenge, meaning where fans stop feeling connected to the brand. The American leagues face this issue with teams being moved from one part of the country to another to accommodate a market or because of an owner’s intention. The IPL has a 3-year cycle after which there are “Mega Auctions” where you would need to release majority of your squads into an auction pool and the player goes to the highest bidder.

This is why the franchise league would never work in European Football since a lot of fans hold football teams close to their hearts. Football has a transfer system where teams can buy and sell players from other teams, and personal teams of the players need to be agreed.

· Another common pitfall is the lack of an academy structure in franchise sports. An academy structure is where a team invests in a player since a very young age and helps promote them by providing them training and educational support. This is very prevalent in European Football and the most prevalent Lionel Messi who was promoted by Barcelona’s Academy “La Masia” since he was 13. While there is a scouting system in place of all sports to find the best young talents, because of the auction system or draft order, the player may not end up with the team that scouted him.

The franchise model can surely be successful and leagues like the IPL are surely here to stay, but it remains a question mark whether this success will be translated to all sports.