Mention IPL and the images that pop up instantly are about cash, celebrity players commanding staggering prices and loyal fans screaming support for their heroes in packed stadiums.
However, besides players and fans, the IPL is about the team, the franchise, which is a brand, a unique commercial entity. The business of the brand is the underlying game behind the 74 matches that stretch over eight weeks. Hard core businessmen have invested serious money into the IPL and teams need to win with runs in the middle, also in the board room with commercial numbers.
The IPL team, the franchise, is a commercial asset (some dismiss it as an expensive toy) belonging to people who spent a bomb to acquire the right to own it. In IPL’s glittering universe the team owner often slips under the radar and receives scant attention. But he is the key figure who holds the remote and pushes buttons when it matters.
In any league, the passionate owner is a crucial figure because he will not only protect his investment but strive to grow his team. The combined power of committed team owners in turn energizes the entire ecosystem. To use a cricket example: if a team has eleven good players, each performing well, the right results will flow automatically. Experience shows good team owners drive leagues forward.
The owner is the boss- he picks up the paddle in the auction to buy players, he shakes his head to reject those he does not fancy. He’s in the business because he loves cricket, but he is also in the business of making money and creating wealth.
In the IPL, the management of teams reflects the vision and the personality of the owners. MI for instance is very different from Gujarat Titans, or Kings. MI is grand, rich, affluent, the big, massive super brand which, obviously, plays cricket but is also deeply into CSR activities- community engagement, girl education, women empowerment. CVC owned Gujarat is very different – it is a business proposition focused on delivering a positive ROI for its investors .
RCB is spirited, flamboyant, influenced in the past by a celebrity owner (Vijay Mallya, the King of Good Times) and by a parade of star players led by King Kohli. CSK is a solid, no flash winner franchise which started as a subsidiary of a successful cement corporate but is now a corporate giant itself. CSK‘s identity is linked to MSD, a player, more than the owner. In fact, the owner himself famously said ‘CSK is MSD and MSD is CSK’.
Because owners are deeply passionate about cricket, they impose their individual styles on how a team is run. RR is relatively low key (compared to MI, RCB) but functions as an efficient unit, having developed a healthy management culture where owners take key cricket / business decisions, but give others space to do their thing.
IPL teams have a distinct culture and varying management styles. At Hyderabad, the Sunrisers carry a definite imprint of owner Kavya Maran who lays down ground rules and appears pretty much hands on.
The situation in teams with multiple / joint owners is somewhat more interesting. Kings Punjab have had a turbulent history, it’s the team with most churn (captains /coaches/ players keep getting sacked) and maybe that’s why their on-field results are dismal, they are rarely in contention .
DC, RR and KKR, teams with more than one owner, also offer a different picture. They are consistent and stable, though in their own way. DC operates within an understanding where the two sets of owners (GMR and JSW) share management responsibilities, and each has a two-year term to lead the franchise.
Such power sharing formula, with a back-and-forth change of guard, has precedents in politics, can be potentially disruptive but DC over the years has been remarkably steady, sedate, free of controversies. Its owners share a vision for the team and the joint responsibility system works because of mutual trust. On core issues (of business /culture/long term strategy) both are aligned. Once policy is decided at the top, operations aspects are left to a set of professional managers for execution.
At KKR, co-owner Shah Rukh Khan casts a long shadow on the franchise but in a pleasant, positive manner. His association with team enhances brand value; his presence at games sends fans into a tizzy and boosts ticket sales. SRK is warm hearted, ever willing to embrace players, even in tough moments. The King Khan leads from the front, yet holds himself back – supportive but noninterfering, involved but not obsessed. An owner who empowers capable, trusted professionals. The IPL is Indian cricket’s glorious celebration, a splash of vivid colour. It’s wonderful because of the diverse nature of teams and their unique methods. But yet, despite the diversity in terms of management styles and the business segments they are involved in, the one common denominator for all the owners is – winning, both on and off the field.
Interference in cricket by owners also prevails! We saw an ugly clip as well last year!