“We used to have actresses trying to become stars. Now we have stars trying to become actresses.“ Sir Laurence Olivier’s above observation aptly fits Pakistan’s cricket team which seems to have more stars in it than players. No wonder that it was forced to exit the Champions Trophy at the initial stage; this time saving us from the agony of pinning hopes not on its performance but that of the other teams in the tournament.
Surely, cricket experts will analyse and comment on our team’s consistently pathetic performance in every aspect of the game. Below we highlight only the hype local television channels routinely create around every prominent tournament which is contributing to our team’s dismal performance by inflating the players’ egos and diverting their concentration and energy from the actual game to their appearance and performance on or before the media.
Sports and media have coexisted for a long time, both growing rich and influential over time as a result of their mutual symbiotic relationship. Sports’ coverage on television has, however, tilted the balance in its favor and is affecting sports in numerous ways—some arguably positive, but many others negative.
The excessive and often unnecessary hype being created by local television channels around cricket events is one such negative influence that is hurting not only cricket but other sports in the country also.
Television’s enhanced interest in cricket is not for the love of the game; it is essentially motivated by deep commercial interests. Unlike any other medium, cricket’s coverage on television enables companies and sponsors a unique opportunity to reach out to millions of customers and introduce them to their products. No wonder, their interest in televised sports is thus rapidly growing.
According to recent statistics from Market and Research, the Global sports market, including cricket, has substantially expanded during the past 15 years, reaching nearly $ 485 billion in 2023 recording a compound annual growth rate of 3.6% since 2018. It’s expected to grow further at 6.1% to reach $ 615 billion by 2028 and then at 5.8% to reach $ 862.6 billion by 2033.
The primary drivers behind this exponential growth in the global sports market are: the globalisation of sports through international competitions; the advent of innovative technologies; internet-enabled devices; an increase in sponsorships; and the multiplying of sports television channels.
Television uses a rich repertoire of programs to build its cricket hype, to capture and sustain viewers’ interest, and to expose them to advertising. Talk shows involving prominent past players and pre-game galas involving film and TV celebrities, singers, and stand-up comedians, all add glamour and enhance viewer interest.
Excessive hype also tries to invoke patriotic sentiments among players as well as spectators and viewers and routinely resorts to racial stereotyping against the opponent teams
Creatively designed advertisements around the event and especially tailored songs help build before-the-game tempo. Designed-for-the-event entertainment programs, interspersed with ball-to-ball reviews help keep viewers glued to the tube through the match’s duration.
To ensure that the advertisers do not miss any segment of society, large screens are placed at carefully selected locations around the cities and at educational centers. Even news bulletins—otherwise considered a dry component of television—give headlines to these events with the aid of dedicated staff and especially hired cricket experts.
Sports have always formed an integral part of society and have contributed to social cohesion, tolerance, and integration by providing a constructive channel to express human creative energies. However, television’s over-zealous cricket coverage, which is driven largely by commercial interests, is tilting the balance. It is not only hurting the game of cricket but also other sports in the country. Television now determines what game is to be played, how it is to be played, when it is to be played, who plays it, and how it is to be watched. Television can make or break a game, as it can a player.
Just look back and see how cricket has changed, essentially on the whim of the sponsors. The serious 5-day cricket test series first gave way to 50-over matches, and more recently to its further shortened version, T-20, only to please sponsors who were looking for a shorter, faster, and more exciting version of the game, to help them to keep existing and attract new audiences and gain popularity in additional territories.
Cricket’s traditional white uniform was discarded in favor of a more colorful outfit to suit television appearances. Even the color of the ball was changed to make it more visible on small screens. Cricket has, thus, become less of a sport now, and more of a saleable commodity. Its television coverage is but a marketing fair to ensure maximum return to investors on their investment.
This increased commercialisation, though have had some salutary impacts on both cricket and players’ promotion, is not coming without a cost. No facet of society seems immune to television’s aggressive and commercially driven cricket coverage.
It is affecting society’s health negatively by inciting players to enhance their chances of selection by seeking help from steroids, performance-enhancing drugs, and similar artificial aids.
Cricket hype also leads to the raising of hopes to unnatural levels, both in the players and spectators, so much so, that they start to perceive “winning” to be the sole purpose of playing the game. One is, therefore, not surprised to hear statements like, “Winning is not a matter of life or death for us; it’s more than that.” So, when our team loses, the entire nation gets frustrated. Some fans go as far as to physically abuse the players and their families, forgetting that losing is as much part of the play—and often more educating—than winning all the time.
Excessive hype also tries to invoke patriotic sentiments among players as well as spectators and viewers and routinely resorts to racial stereotyping against the opponent teams. This has led to violence both within the field as well as once it is over, and sometimes within the spectators themselves.
This commercially driven television hype around cricket is also leading to numerous ethical problems. Lured by the game’s huge payoffs, players often resort to illegal and unethical means such as gambling, ball-tempering, and match-fixing, to acquire fame and quick wealth.
Television’s cricket hype may also be behind the other social ills that are silently infiltrating our society. Proper research is required to assess the impacts of frequent and lengthy television coverage of cricket events on excessive waste of time, electricity, and productivity in our country.
How much junk food and drinks are consumed during such coverage when viewers binge on these during the game’s emotional highs and lows may be the topic for yet another research study.
And, what about hockey, squash, tennis, football, wrestling, and kabaddi? Why aren’t these television’s darlings, even though some of these sports and their players have earned the nation more kudos and medals, and never any disgrace, than cricket? Why this step-motherly treatment to these? Do we love these sports any less? No, we don’t. Isn’t it simply because television’s coverage of these sports does not offer sponsors as much opportunity for commercials as does the game of cricket?
We as media’s real consumers need to act more responsibly and should not permit television to shape our choices; instead, we should shape it.