The IPL kicks off today and in what seems to be a coordinated buzz generating PR strategy across media, Live Current Media has been given the exclusive rights to the IPL Portal.

 

 

So Live Current media will operate IPLT20.com and BCCI.tv. LCM will effectively pay $5M per year for the exclusive online rights to official photos, video footage, live scoreboards, match results stats, a fantasy cricket league, ticketing, fan polling, contests etc.

 

 

According to TechCrunch, LCM had a net loss of $2 Million last year so it seems to be betting all its money on the IPL franchise.

 

 

I have already outlined my reservations with respect to Cricket in India being a ‘tv oriented sport’ and also the dwindling population. Notice how most people in India like to see cricket collectively. The idiot box then becomes the perfect gateway.

 

 

Incidentally, LCM’s Cricket.com will also be seeded with the exclusive IPL Content.

 

 

This is keeping in mind the recent tussle that the IPL had with the media (print and electronic) with respect to the use of pictures and more importantly in this context, the issue of key websites such as Rediff and ESPN’s CricInfo not being allowed to access IPL’s content.

 

 

The News Agencies have all stated that they will cover the IPL under protest.

 

 

Lalit Modi and Co. sound like communists. I wonder how ‘exclusive’ content can remain and for how long considering all the various replication tools we possess and the headache that comes with tracking everything that has been replicated. 

 

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