Mumbai Indians franchise has decided to promote IPL in the USA. This move was inspired by the foreign football clubs who travel in the Asian countries before the start of the season to promote their game and expand their fan base.
The four-time Ipl winners, MI wanted to promote the IPL the Indian brand of cricket in the same way but it was dismissed by the Supreme Court-appointed CoA. MI has urged CoA to provide some other alternative’s according to their comfort but still, CoA never changed their decision.
A future step for spreading the wings of IPL and the awareness about the IPL is shot down by the Committee of Administration (CoA).
As per the source: “Since MI participate in a BCCI tournament, they must take written permission if they are looking at any such move. Mumbai Indians’ idea was to promote brand IPL and the game in the US and also to develop a new market for the game. The team would have headed to the US and also play a few games with local teams so as to attract cricket lovers in the region and get them up close and personal with their favorite stars.”
“In fact, MI was also keen to share any revenue earned in the process. The IPL clause says that if you as a franchise play outside of the tournament, any revenue earned is to be shared. MI had no problem with that as the idea was to take the game to more homes and increase the fan base,” the source said.
“MI even asked the CoA to provide the window as per their suitability. Playing local matches would popularise the sport as we all know that cricket is not followed much there and also, there are many Indians there and the franchise wanted to go and experiment and see how they can give back to the game,” the source added.
“Selling tickets wasn’t their idea because you never know if you would even have the top stars like Rohit Sharma playing as they have national commitments. The idea was to promote the brand and the game in the region. It was about making a noise. The franchise is very serious about the idea and wants to bring it up with the BCCI in the future as well. IPL is a global brand in cricket playing countries, but what about the upcoming nations?”
“Isn’t this why football clubs come to Asian countries on their pre-season tours? That is how you expand the brand and make the game more popular. It is no mean project and MI is ready to do that and should get the required assistance.”
