America is waking up to cricket's marketing potential

The IPL and the large Indian consumer base drag other sports owners, data analysts and many others interested in making money
Although around the world more than a hundred countries played in and followed by hundreds of millions of fans, cricket is still in many ways outside the Test playing countries misunderstood, and was limited until recently mainly on traditional Commonwealth strongholds. For many Americans, it has been a "mysterious English sports", played in white, planned with a "paddle", and at tea breaks. Compared to rugby, squash, sport, have similar roots and patterns of expansion, Cricket is not as well understood.

However, in recent years, several indicators showed signs of Cricket increasingly accepted in America for its status in the global sports scene. Found For example, top tier US media like the New York Times, CNN and CNBC Cricket deserves significant airtime when Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar came to the US last year for the Cricket All-Stars exhibition T20 Tour. In addition to highlight clips frequently on ESPN Sportscenter featured the top ten games has cricket also made its way to Hollywood by Million Dollar Arm, a film about Scouting for baseball pitcher in India.

Cricket has to learn a discussion point for many top American sports administrators on himself from his recent success.

Last month, the prestigious MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston, Cricket featured on one of the panels for the first time in the ten-year history of the event. It was attended by the biggest names in the sports industry - including Moneyball author Michael Lewis, and Billy Beane and Bill James, themes of the book; NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman; and several owners and managers of the NBA and NFL teams.

Since rugby has become an Olympic sport, over $ 15 million annually by China's national and local governments invested in Rugby Sevens. One might expect that a similar amount would be invested in cricket should be included in the Olympics
Since the price has increased, franchises, broadcasters and national boards have resorted to technology and innovation to find a competitive advantage. While the NFL announced a deal recently to send games on Twitter, the IPL blazed a trail in the distribution of digital content in 2010, when games were on YouTube live streaming world. It also has a knock-on effect in the technology of Cricket lbw, initially designed for other sports, especially with Hawk-Eye technology to evaluate decisions, but now an integral part of the tennis experience.

Cricket comes to its origin and one of the biggest beneficiaries of innovations from other sports because sports look-tech enterprises Cricket as a growth market. For example, catapult, a leading company focused on data acquisition by professional athletes in football, basketball and soccer, invested in cricket also, considered it as an emerging sport with lucrative potential.

It is no coincidence that the rest of the world found beyond the traditional Commonwealth Castle announcement of Cricket. The game has become an attractive sports shop and a line on the Indian consumer market. The rise of the Indian middle class, the success of the IPL and Big Bash League, and the efforts of the ICC, to globalize the sport have all contributed to its rise in popularity.

People not familiar with tend Cricket in the United States to see it as a small business - and perhaps not even a professional sport. The fact that MS Dhoni - $ 31 million per year, of which him 23 world best-paid athlete in Forbes richest list athletes annually - makes as much or more money than Neymar, Peyton Manning or Dwyane Wade a lot of eyebrows.

Meanwhile, the Indian Premier League has to check rise in the past eight years as sports owner Stan Kroenke in the business of cricket, participation. His words are significant because Kroenke Sports Enterprises comprise property investments of the NBA Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche NHL, MLS franchise Colorado Rapids, the National Lacrosse League Colorado Mammoth, the Los Angeles Rams NFL, and a stake as the largest shareholder of English football club Arsenal , His interest in adding a cricket team to his portfolio should be no surprise, exceeded considering the original ten-year TV rights deal for the IPL $ 1b.
Kroenke is not alone. Other sports federations are to infiltrate in the lucrative Indian market. grow a great business at more than 6%, emerging with a middle-class customer base, an obvious target for sports such as Formula One, basketball and football has, but any sport that is looking to break into the Indian market need to understand its cricket fans , Fascinated by the phenomenal work of IPL fans from the beginning was to do with the administration, then-NBA commissioner David Stern visited India during the 2013 IPL to study its options.

While the business of cricket is healthy, can continue the global expansion make it even healthier. The inclusion in the Olympic Games will provide an avenue to new growth markets. Since rugby has become an Olympic sport, over $ 15 million per year has been invested by the Chinese national and local governments in Rugby Sevens. One might expect that a similar amount would be invested in cricket should be included in the Olympic Games, which would be 60 times more than the current annual funding of sport in China. NBC free-to-air prime-time coverage of the Olympics could do wonders for cricket popularity in the region in the USA.

In November 2015, the ICC met with the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, cricket discuss possible inclusion in the 2024 Summer Games, in Los Angeles has a great chance is one of the last four candidate cities, along with Budapest, Rome and Paris , The United States Olympic Committee has the interest in cricket is indicated, and assistance from them for cricket can be added as an Olympic sport, expect when Los Angeles hosted rights granted. The readmission of golf and rugby sevens in the Olympic Games is a sign that the IOC is serious of the world's most popular sports including. Cricket fully penetrate also an opportunity for the IOC to the Indian viewership market.

Although cricket is increasingly important primarily driven by its business attractiveness Social media has played a role, it introduce a new audience. Roger Federer controversial Facebook post referencing India at the beginning of the 2015 World Cup has shown how sports followers can be sucked out of the Cricket. Twitter exchange between international sports celebrities like Harry Kane and Virat Kohli back and forth during the 2016 World T20, and Dwayne Bravo recording as 2015 ESPY Award Best Play nominee also show the value of two-way exposure between Cricket and platforms of other athletes divided.

While all of these cross-Sport interactions continue taking place with Cricket, there is great optimism for the visibility and growth of cricket in the emerging markets around the world, so much so that # WT20 and # OlympicsT20 will soon be not only in India but trending in America and China.