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What India needs is more cricket and less Bollywood
As the Indian Premier League adapts to the digital age, Hindi films lose fans thanks to stale scripts and ageing stars
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Cricket’s growing popularity rests on the Indian Premier League.
PHOTO: AFP
Ruchir Sharma
India’s economy has as much entrenched rust as it has entrepreneurial dynamism. And no two industries illustrate these contradictions more clearly than its most iconic entertainments, Bollywood and cricket. Facing the same challenge – growing competition for fans in the Internet age – cricket is killing it, Bollywood is blowing it.
Cricket’s growing popularity rests on the Indian Premier League (IPL). Since its launch in 2008, the league has seen its estimated value rise from US$1.1 billion (S$1.5 billion) to more than US$15 billion. In 2023, the two-month season drew nearly one billion viewers from live broadcast and streaming. In 2022, the IPL sold five-year broadcast rights for US$6.5 billion – a higher per-game price than many other professional sports, including England’s Premier League.
