Cashing in on the game

With economies under the whip all around the world, South Africa is no different and cricket administrators, in particular, face a regular battle with rising costs and falling numbers of spectators.

But Twenty20 cricket has been the one format that still seems to hold the most people in thrall, so when the Indian Premier League needed a place to stay for their second tournament, Cricket South Africa unsurprisingly jumped at the opportunity.

From the truck drivers and owners who will transport the tons of equipment around the country, to street vendors to hotel staff and owners cashing in on the 10,000 people Lalit Modi will bring over to work on the tournament, and to the hospitality industry that will want to ensure they are cosy bedfellows with the IPL, there are thousands of South Africans hoping to cash in.

Some leading economists have even put forward the theory that the IPL will save South Africa from negative growth this year despite the current global financial crisis. Cassim Docrat, whose KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union (KZNCU) will host the most matches (16) at the Kingsmead stadium in Durban, called it “a gift that has been put on our table”.

“Anybody would take this opportunity. The only thing you can say is ‘yes, we would like to have it’,” Docrat, the KZNCU chief executive, said.  All the provinces were happy to put their stadiums forward as venues for the IPL, because there really was everything to gain and nothing to lose.  And, unlike if the tournament had been hosted in England, it diverts no attention away from local cricket - South Africa’s domestic season came to an end at the weekend and the one-day international series against Australia ends on April 17, the day before the IPL gets underway in Cape Town.

“There’s a lot of excitement and hype, judging by the number of phone calls we’re getting about the IPL. I think there’re going to be a lot of people disappearing from work!,” Elise Lombard, the CEO at SuperSport Park in Centurion, said.

One suite-holder at the ground, a former South African fast bowler, says he has been offered a million rand ($111 000) by a local company for them to use his suite to entertain clients during the IPL.

“There aren’t any drawbacks for us and a number of real positives,” Andre Odendaal, the CEO at Newlands, said. “Apart from the solid staging fee, it also gives us the chance to develop relationships with the Indian franchises, showcase our stadium to the world and give more cricket to our supporters.”

That staging fee is believed to be $10 million to Cricket South Africa and CEO Gerald Majola said hosting the IPL was an offer that you could not refuse.

“The money will make an immense, huge difference to cricket in South Africa. It is much needed and comes at the right time because in these times of recession, sponsors are hard to find. It will be very handy,” Majola said on Monday. More South African cricketers will also benefit because the franchises have shown themselves to be eager to choose players with experience of local conditions, with pace bowlers Charl Langeveldt and Yusuf Abdulla enjoying late call-ups to replace injured players. But the benefits will also touch those anonymous people far lower down the cricketing ladder.

Sue Abbott owns a kiosk at the Wanderers that sells snow cones and chip twisters and she and her staff are ecstatic that they will all have some extra cash in their pockets while most other South Africans are talking about cutbacks and layoffs.  “Even if the IPL brings in R100 million [$11 million], it may not save our economy but if it goes off well it will do a lot for the image of South Africa,” Tony Cete, a Cape Town economist said.

The IPL, of course, is just the start of an extraordinary sequence of top-class international sports events South Africa will host. The British and Irish Lions rugby team will arrive straight after the tournament, to be followed by the Confederations Cup football in June, the ICC Champions Trophy in September and ending with the biggest of them all — the Fifa World Cup next year.