The Boards of Cricket for England and Wales, in an attempt to bring back crowds and interest in the game, had no idea exactly how big their idea was. The T20 Cricket format became a rage, and the fever spread like wild fire all over the world. Cashing in on the success of T20 formats, and league cricket, the ICL and later the IPL tournaments proved to the world exactly to what event cricket could be marketed. They proved the power of the sport, and the reach it had to almost a billion people all over the world. Thus, the idea of a new tournament - the Champions League T20 or the CLT20 was formed.
The format of the game is similar to all 20-20 matches. However, the catch here is in selection of the teams and the players. It is in this where the mystery lies. To qualify for the CLT20, a team must be one of the following - winner or runners up of the recent IPL tournament and winners and runners up of county cricket matches played in England, Wales, Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies and South Africa. If a player belongs to one of the qualifying teams of the IPL, and also one of the qualifying teams of his own country, he will play for his country, and not be a part of the IPL league team. Thus, there is always a huge speculation about which player would be playing for which team.
The beginning of this phenomenal tournament was shrouded with speculation and controversies. Airtel had bought the sponsorship rights for the event at a whopping $38.4mn USD. The tournament was then called the Airtel Champions League T20. The matches were initially supposed to start in 2008, but were cancelled due to the Mumbai terror attacks. Finally, the tournament took off in 2009. Unfortunately, the response in India wasn't good, after India was out of the tournament. This caused a huge loss in revenues for the organisers, whose main market was India. All over the world too, the response dithered, which made the boards all over the world rethink their marketing, and wonder if T20 cricket was being over marketed. The tournament ended with Australia winning the cup.
The next event will be held in September this year. Mumbai Indians led by the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar will lock in battle with Highveld Lions. Cricket fans all over the world are waiting with bated breath for the next greatest event of this year. With no other sporting event in the vicinity to divert crowds, it appears as if the tournament is heading for success.
The Champions League T20 is the finest example of cricket in the world today. Starting from local county matches, to international matches where there was an intense rivalry between the teams; it has now evolved into league T20 cricket. Indeed, it is a shining example of how far cricket has come in the world. From the days when international cricket was only about representing countries, today we have players from different countries and different levels competing together as a team in the international pitches. It is a true example of globalisation, and how people across the borders are integrating across the world. Perhaps marketers must consider using this sentiment as the CLT20's brand's identity - it would certainly appeal to the crowd, and it would help them lose lesser revenues even if Team India does not perform.
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