It’s an unsanctioned, privately run tournament held in the sub-continent, seeking to capture the attention of an adoring public and a slice of a huge television rights market. Ownership stakes in the franchises are being offered to Indian celebrities, and the dollars on offer are attracting players from around the world, who submit themselves to a public auction process.
No, it’s not an Indian T20 cricket league, but instead a rebel ‘World Series Hockey’ competition.
The competition is now one year old, has teams across eight Indian cities, boasts title sponsors such as Bridgestone and Vodfone and is about to reach a critical juncture in the period post-London 2012.
Television rights are critical to assist in the funding of the league and the creation of value for the privately owned franchises – and as the only sport to rival cricket in a nation of 1.2 billion people, the Indian television market has this in spades. The WSH owners have begun to tap into this and Australian hockey players are on the cusp of becoming involved.
Australia is a nation that loves its sporting heroes – especially those that succeed on the world stage and bring home gold. However, the commercial reality for players within teams like the ‘Kookaburras’ – Australian men’s hockey team – is that despite medalling in the last five Olympics, winning gold in Athens in 2004, and numerous Champions trophies, the endorsements are few and far between. Indeed, to the general public the most famous Kookaburra is probably still former captain Ric Charlesworth, retired since the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, and outside of the Olympics we’re only likely to see their matches televised on the ABC.
As a result the Kookaburras are not likely to be in a position to permanently give up their day jobs to compete professionally. It is a position akin to Australia’s cricketers in the 1970s prior to the days of World Series Cricket. Thanks to the creation of ‘World Series Hockey’, more of our elite athletes are in a position to cash in – albeit this may come at a cost.
Typically, the biggest stick an international federation can wield is the threat of expulsion from internationally sanctioned events – the biggest of which being the Olympics. As the ‘World Series Hockey’ competition is not sanctioned by the world governing body, the Federation of International Hockey, participants risk receiving a one-year ban from playing in internationals. Indeed the FIH has already directed that its member nations place such bans on players joining WSH.
Why would an international federation or a national hockey body care? Well, its revenue streams are largely dictated by the sponsorship funds and broadcasting rights it can sell to third parties, and rebel competitions threaten that revenue stream.
If the core playing group are not available for large parts of the calendar, it could result in 1) fewer international tours being scheduled; and 2) those that are scheduled being likely to contain depleted squads – meaning less favourable results. All of this equates to less positive news, and less airtime for the national team and its commercial partners. By more rigidly controlling those event schedules (and perhaps directing them to play more official sub-continent events), that national body has greater control over its future direction, rather than being reliant on funding hand outs from the Australian Sports Commission.
Thanks to the threat of this ban and complications with national teams preparing for the London 2012 Olympics, most prominent international players were not involved in WSH’s first year. Despite this, the rebel tournament has attracted great attention and just like T20 cricket’s original ICL, it has now attracting a competitor – the ‘Hockey India League.’
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ike the IPL, the ‘Hockey India League’ has the benefit of being sanctioned as an official tournament on the world calendar. The FIH has approved an exclusive window at the beginning of 2013, with plans for an IPL-style auction later this year to build publicity. Initial media releases suggest a similar team structure to the IPL, in that each team will contain a set mix of marquee Indian players, and a limit to the foreign players on each team.
The rebel league has been given a big head start, but as we saw with the IPL and its competitor, the now defunct ICL, this first mover advantage can be overcome if the newer entrant can attract bigger name players and provide a compelling television product. The IPL was assisted by receiving the endorsement of the BCCI, meaning that current international players would still be eligible to represent their country. (Some arm twisting to receive favourable scheduling within the ICC’s ‘Future Tours’ program didn’t hurt either.) Recent media reports suggest that international superstars such as Australia’s Jamie Dwyer are poised to sign up to one of the competitions, although most seem to be waiting for the dust to settle after London to see which league offers the most attractive package – or which seems the most commercially viable.
So will the new leagues be successful and enduring? Given the popularity of the sport and the population within India, it’s unlikely to turn in to a Mad Men-esque ‘Jai Alai’ project. However, recent history, including rival cricket leagues for cricket and American football, suggests that only one will survive.
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ill we see a television mini-series about the move one day? As the project doesn’t involve a certain Australian TV magnate, I’d suggest not – and I doubt the ‘Chennai Cheetahs’ will ever become as well known as their IPL counterparts, the ‘Chennai Super Kings’, in this part of the world. However, the magnitude of the move for the sport and the players concerned appears to be just as momentous as Packer’s 1970s cricket revolution, and many Kookaburras can begin preparations for a post-London career as full-time professional athletes.