Sports are not just a way of entertainment; they will teach you unity, discipline, and the joy of winning together. Sports have nurtured the human body, mind, and spirit. It is important in human life that they should play sports. We play and watch different games in India, but cricket is not just a game for us; it is the emotions of its fans. People used to feel upset when their team lost matches. It’s become the most popular sport in India. Cricket has become more and more popular over the last ten years. Its popularity dominates all the other sports in India and worldwide.
You often hear that cricket is impacting other games. In This article, we try to understand how cricket dominates all the other sports:
Cricket Craze Among People
It is true that cricket fan following or interest has increased; ICC data shows that over one billion people’s favorite game is cricket, so it is 90% of the Indian population. Its popularity overshadowed the Indian national game of hockey. It happens because we Indians discussed cricket games everywhere: on walks, while seating, at dinner, etc. There are also some factors that are increasing the cricket game and at the same, they are dominating the other games:
People have great knowledge from decades and following it. Now they can easily predicate which player will perform well in upcoming matches based on the pitches, opponent team, and history. People are betting everywhere, that impacts those both positively and negatively. That thing shows the craze of cricket.
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There are also some factors that are increasing the cricket game and at the same, they are dominating the other games:
Cultural Importance:
In India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Australia, England, and other countries that are just known for the cricket game. It is like, “Hey! Indians are the masters of the cricket games.” These countries’ historical success in national, and international tournaments like this cricket game plays an important role in it.
Also, the reason behind its popularity is that people see the cricket game as a social event. Tournaments like the Indian Premier League are the main events that are increasing cricket games.
India won their last hockey World Cup in 1985. After that, we are losing tournaments in hockey. Apart from that, hockey’s role and playing strategies are also hard to learn. Kabaddi is also an ancient game played by Indians but still has not gained that much popularity in the games industry. Kabaddi Premier League is the second most-watched sport in India, but there are only 20–30% of people who actively watch this sport. These kinds of factors are with every game that are affecting themselves. Football and basketball are still huge fan bases globally, but the way cricket game interest is increasing in fans, it is concerning for other games.
This is happening with every other sport. Other games do not have that kind of luck. Cricket games are the luckiest with their cultural history.
This is not only happening with India; if we look at the data, cricket has increased all over the world. Cricket has 2.5 billion fans globally. Cricket fans were basically from South Asia, the UK, and Australia in 2010. The fan number has increased suddenly in 2023, now this number is 3 billion fans. This growth is over 8-12% in this game.
Mass Media Coverage of the Cricket Game vs Others:
Broadcast and digital streaming rights channels increase cricket game significantly and its reach. Giant tournaments are available to watch on these platforms that are easily accessible to the common person; that is another reason.
Cricket communities are highly active on social media, which is also impacting the popularity of cricket game. They discuss the matches, players, performance, etc. here. That is why the cricket game is gaining fame from here. Broadcasters and digital streamers are making high money via this business; they know people are crazy to watch cricket gameplay. In Nov 2023, India vs Australia set new records of 13 crores of TV watches. That is a huge reason that broadcasters and digital streamers are making high-value money through this business.
Football and basketball are the two games that attract broadcasters and investors. Cricket is at third number in this loist now.
On the other side, broadcasters and digital streaming don’t show their interest in other games. They don’t even try to approach other game councils for the media rights. On the other side, this is not a profitable business for them.
Financial Investment in Cricket Game vs Others:
Cricket has a giant fan base, and because of that, it attracts brands and sponsorship deals. Cricket games are a top platform for brands to promote. To make money, T20 leagues like the Indian Premier League (IPL), BBL, and others invest a significant sum in this series.
On the other side, other games don’t have much potential in themselves. Investors do not want to lose in this business. Campines are not so interested in other games because of their fanbase. Football and basketball are two games that receive huge funding and investment, but after cricket’s popularity, they are affected.
Format of Cricket Game:
One-day matches, T20s, and test series of cricket happen frequently, which makes interest in people. Global, country, and local cricket tournaments are making fans curious. Tournaments like the World Cup are the most interesting series that attract viewerships, sponsorships, brands, broadcasters, etc.
The format of cricket games also dominates the other games because of its popularity.
Other games like Kabaddi and hockey have just one type of tournament. If we talk about our root game, rifle and pistol shooting, archers don’t have a major event for them; these games have only one or two major events where they are performed.
Grassroots Development of Cricket Game vs Others:
There are many countries that invest in cricket games. They provide a government academy where they can build players who are going to be icon players for their country in the near future. Local clubs of cricket and local tournaments are also increasing cricket.
There are many local football clubs in India, but they are unable to spread as much as cricket. Nowadays we are seeing that government or local support is not helping football. That is also affected by cricket.
Other games are not spread as much. This is another reason that our government does not support these games enough. They do not have enough local support from the fans. That is why other games grassroots are weak. Governments are just supporting those games only where they can get fame, and those games help countries to do their business.
Role model and favorite Athletes:
There are many legendary role models in the cricket industry. Football also gave us too many legendary players globally. Cricket stole a lot of the fans of football in the present. Now fans are like new players from cricket, supporting cricket and following their ideal players. We can say that today cricket players are attracting new fans to follow cricket, and because of that, basketball and football fans are decreasing.
Globalization of the Sport:
Tour matches and series attract new audiences to cricket. For this reason, cricket is expanding to many countries, like the USA and its territories. This is the reason cause of why cricket is gaining more and more fans.
Football has also been played in many countries, but this game has not spread much. If we look at another side, the cricket game is rapidly spreading globally.
Cricket was played by 94 countries in 2000, as per the record of the ICC. These 94 countries served by the ICC to the growth of cricket. In 2024, this number growth is good overall. Now 108 countries are there who are playing cricket as per the rule of the ICC.
Cricket games are overshadowing all other sports because of its huge fan base. Cricket fan numbers are increasing rapidly. The infrastructure of cricket stadiums also encourages fans to watch cricket closely; this is also a reason for the popularity of cricket. There are many reasons, like cultural importance, mass media coverage, financial strategies, grassroots development, etc., because the cricket game becomes dominant for the other games.