TY - JOUR
T1 - A Foreign Field No Longer
T2 - India, the IPL, and the Global Business of Cricket
AU - Agur, Colin
PY - 2013/10
Y1 - 2013/10
N2 - In the past decade India has become the financing hub for cricket, a broadcaster in its own right, and an agenda-setter in the management of all forms of the game. What some commentators have called the 'Indianization' of cricket extends beyond business: it is a social, political, and cultural phenomenon. For five seasons, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has offered a glimpse of this phenomenon, prompting enthusiasm from young fans and those who stand to profit from the new league, and resistance from traditionalists. This paper discusses the material and symbolic roles the IPL has come to play in global cricket. It begins with an overview of the IPL's history, discusses how the IPL is changing the global business of cricket, and explores how the IPL is challenging the traditional culture of the sport. The paper concludes with arguments about the IPL as a grand spectacle, and a cultural phenomenon that, despite its problems, might prove its critics wrong. Throughout, the paper treats the IPL as a useful case study not only in the business of sports, but also more widely in our theoretical and empirical studies of globalization.
AB - In the past decade India has become the financing hub for cricket, a broadcaster in its own right, and an agenda-setter in the management of all forms of the game. What some commentators have called the 'Indianization' of cricket extends beyond business: it is a social, political, and cultural phenomenon. For five seasons, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has offered a glimpse of this phenomenon, prompting enthusiasm from young fans and those who stand to profit from the new league, and resistance from traditionalists. This paper discusses the material and symbolic roles the IPL has come to play in global cricket. It begins with an overview of the IPL's history, discusses how the IPL is changing the global business of cricket, and explores how the IPL is challenging the traditional culture of the sport. The paper concludes with arguments about the IPL as a grand spectacle, and a cultural phenomenon that, despite its problems, might prove its critics wrong. Throughout, the paper treats the IPL as a useful case study not only in the business of sports, but also more widely in our theoretical and empirical studies of globalization.
KW - Economics of sports
KW - India
KW - Indian Premier League
KW - globalization
KW - sociology of sports
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84885203812&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/0021909613478907
DO - 10.1177/0021909613478907
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84885203812
SN - 0021-9096
VL - 48
SP - 541
EP - 556
JO - Journal of Asian and African Studies
JF - Journal of Asian and African Studies
IS - 5
ER -