Author: Ashok Namboodiri

The IPL was deliberately engineered as a low-risk, high-leverage franchise model in a way that the NFL or EPL are not. Two design choices sit at the heart of this: (1) the way stadium costs sit largely outside franchise balance sheets and (2) a hard, centrally enforced salary cap that stops player wages from eating the league alive. Put simply, the IPL socialises the heavy, long-term costs at the BCCI/state-association level, while privatising a big chunk of the upside at franchise level. That’s a very different equation to a Premier League club drowning in wage bills or an NFL team…

The latest Brand Finance report has delivered the first jolt to the IPL’s booming valuation curve in years — a 20% drop in ecosystem value from $12.0 billion in 2024 to $9.6 billion. For critics, this might look like the bubble wobbling. For investors, especially those circling global sports IP, this is exactly the kind of inflection point from which fortunes are made. Let’s be clear: this is not a demand crisis. Nor is it a decay in relevance. The primary drivers of the dip are exogenous — geopolitical instability causing suspension of matches, and the uncertainty induced by the…

The storyline being pushed right now is one of panic: a broadcaster staring at massive losses, hit by regulatory hurdles on online gaming ads, facing an uncertain future with potential bans on pan masala advertising. That version makes it easy to believe JioStar wants out of cricket. But scratch beneath the surface, and the picture flips. This isn’t retreat. This is a strategic play to reset the economics of global cricket — on JioStar’s terms. The market reality is blunt: there is no saviour waiting to swoop in with a cheque book. Amazon and Netflix don’t see cricket rights as…

There’s a special kind of electricity that sweeps through a cricket ground when a specialist batter decides, or is coaxed to have a trundle. It’s not quite fear, nor expectation. It’s something more… mischievous. When Marnus Labuschagne started loosening up his arms in Brisbane, the Gabba crowd knew what was coming: not searing pace or fizzing turn, but pure entertainment. He was like the character Circuit in the movie Munna Bhai MBBS saying “Bhai tension nahi lene ka” …Every delivery was met with roaring anticipation. Part-time bowling is cricket’s closest equivalent to the schoolteacher doing stand-up comedy. You don’t expect…

The World Cup has always been more than just football. It is a celebration of culture, a showcase of national pride, and a gathering of humanity at its most exuberant. Yet the unveiling of the 2026 World Cup draw on Saturday, alongside the awarding of FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize to Donald J. Trump, offers a stark reflection of how modern sport is increasingly shaped by political spectacle. The 2026 tournament, spanning the United States, Canada, and Mexico, will be the biggest in history: 48 nations, 12 groups of four teams each, and a globally calibrated schedule designed for maximum prime-time…

(Jadeja, Bumrah, Iyer, PC-X) Indian cricket has enjoyed many blessed coincidences — the prodigious 1983 generation, the once-in-a-lifetime Sachin-Dravid-Ganguly-Laxman core, the rise of fearless IPL-honed match-winners. But December 6 offers the most symbolic of alignments. Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Shreyas Iyer — three very different cricketers in style, role and public perception — were born on this day. Together, they represent the enduring transformation of Indian cricket over the last decade. On the face of it, they are…

There was a time when losing a match meant a sigh, a shrug, and perhaps a heated debate over tea. Today, it means a flood of abuse. Athletes are threatened over dropped catches, coaches are mocked for tactical choices, and selectors are vilified as villains undermining the nation. The mutation of sporting criticism into unfiltered cruelty isn’t a story about sport alone … it is a stark reflection of who we are becoming as a society. In India, where sport is stitched deeply into national identity, the lines between passion and poison have blurred. Mohammed Shami was abused for his…

December 4 is Ajit Agarkar’s birthday. Once a celebrated India fast bowler who took nearly 300 ODI wickets, he is now the man sitting in perhaps the most uncomfortable chair in Indian cricket: the chief selector. It is ironic that a career known for crisp outswingers and rapid-fire cameos is now defined by judgment calls, scrutiny, and the relentless evaluation of others. If a selector’s career had a scoreboard, it would show a strange imbalance: success gets quietly filed away; failure lights up the front pages. Under Agarkar, India have celebrated significant success in white-ball formats, lifting trophies and…

Sport is no longer the preserve of a few… it is the aspiration of millions. That is why this partnership with Tata Consumer and Tata Gluco Sports is so significant. Tata Consumer’s vision of accessible wellness and everyday performance mirrors RevSportz’s own belief in authentic, athlete-first storytelling. As India enters a new era of sporting ambition across cricket, Olympic disciplines, and the ever-inspirational Paralympic movement, the partnership between Tata Consumer Products and RevSportz arrives as both a signal and a statement. It marks the union of two philosophies: the RevSportz commitment to authentic sporting storytelling and the Tata Consumer commitment…

Ashok Namboodiri As I exited the virtual press conference announcing that India has been awarded the 2030 Commonwealth Games, I sensed a measured optimism in the room in Glasgow. A robust evaluation process of the five expressions of interest had led to a shortlist of two – Nigeria and India – and the committee took their pick to the Board, who endorsed it. But for a nation that has already lived one Commonwealth Games dream and woken up to its administrative nightmare, celebration is only half the story. The other half is memory. And memory has teeth. The press conference…