As they look forward to attracting more spectators to the UAE, the organisers of the International League T20 are open to having a new window in a bid to avoid a potential clash with other leagues across the globe.
While the third edition of the ILT20 is set to be held from January 11 to February 9 next year, the dates are likely to clash with the Big Bash League and potentially the SA20. However, the tournament CEO David White indicated that going forward, things could change.
“Ideally, we would like a window where we have no clash with any other league. There is an opportunity maybe in February-March, just before the IPL, but nothing has been decided yet,” White told Sportstar.
Taking lessons from the inaugural edition in 2023, where the crowd turnout was less, the organisers made sure things changed drastically last season. “The big lesson from season one to season two was the crowd. In season one, the crowds were poor and we made a conscious effort to drive more attendance,” White said.
“So, in the second season, we had a 300% increase in crowds and we had about 200,000 people watch season two, including a crowd of 25,000 for the final. That’s a big lesson…,” he added.
White, a former New Zealand international, believes that identifying a separate window will only help the league prosper. “We want to continue growing the crowd and we are also really focusing on making the UAE and ILT20 a destination venue. So, we are working closely with our partners to make people from India in particular come over and watch the tournament. A lot of people come over to visit Dubai to enjoy the shopping, the weather and all the activities. We would like to incorporate an offering to invite them along to the cricket as well, which would be a really exciting opportunity,” White, who’s also been a former CEO of New Zealand Cricket, added.
Asked whether there are any plans to increase the number of teams, White said, “We are looking to consolidate at this point in time and ensure that the teams become economically established, sustainable and that they develop their own fan base. That’s most important over the next few years…”
With three Indian Premier League franchises owning teams in the ILT20, the tournament has garnered interest in India as well. The organisers as well as the broadcaster, Zee Entertainment, which acquired exclusive broadcast and streaming rights of the tournament for a period of 10 years, is looking at further innovations to make the league more attractive and relevant.
“In terms of innovation, we had an impact player as well. Apart from that, what we will rest on is the quality of cricket, the quality of the facilities and the quality of the broadcast. And the offering will be attractive. In terms of players, we’ve retained a large number of the quality players from last year. Most of them have got international and IPL experience,” White said, adding that the new signings for the season will be revealed on September 15.
Talking about the involvement of the three IPL teams - Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals - White said that having three IPL brands is massive for the league even though the current Indian players are not allowed to feature in any overseas leagues. “They are very established, well performing organisations and are big brands themselves. And that brings a lot of attractiveness to the league…”
“In terms of Indian players, of course we know that the BCCI doesn’t release them and we all know that and that’s fine. In terms of former Indian players, we will consider former players, but they need to be of a standard because this is a very high-quality standard of cricket with nine international cricketers. So, we need the standard to be very high,” White said.
Ashish Sehgal, Chief Growth Officer, Zee Entertainment, believes that the involvement of the IPL franchises has made the league interesting. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Ashish Sehgal, the Chief Growth Officer - digital and broadcast revenue - at Zee Entertainment, believes that the involvement of the IPL franchises has made the league interesting. “Ultimately the highest viewership is in India. So, when you engage with the established retired players and they are talking about the league, they are more recognisable faces among the Indian viewers. So it helps to promote,” Sehgal said.
“It helps us to promote it easily to the consumer. They start engaging with it. More than 50% of our commentators are from India, who are retired or some may have been associated with the sport. So that helps us explain the league really as what and how the Indian consumer understands,” the Zee official added.
“They talk about stats. They compare these stats with the IPL or any other leagues. So, all that helps us to really bring in the quality, the awareness as well as the relation of a consumer becomes a little closer because as we speak in our entertainment language, that if you speak in their own language, the content resonates better with the consumer,” Sehgal added.
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