Planning Procedures and Legacies of the Cricket World Cup

Planning Procedures and Legacies of West Indies 2007 and Asia 2011 Cricket World Cup

Contents:

Introduction:

Typology of Events:

Planning Processes:

West Indies 2007 Planning Process:

Bidding Process:

Venues and Media Coverage:

Asia 2011 Planning Process:

Bidding Process:

Venues and Media Coverage:

Impact and Legacy:

West Indies Impact and Legacy (2007 Cricket World Cup):

Asia Impact and Legacy (2011 Cricket World Cup):

Conclusion:

References:

Introduction:

The year 2019 will mark forty four years since the inaugural Cricket World Cup of 1975 on the 7^th of June, the inaugural tournament kicked off in England with four games across four venues. The tournament consisted of eight teams; Australia, East Africa, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the West Indies, and was played across five venues in England (ICC, 2018). As the hosting of the 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup comes back home to England this year, this event has truly in terms of attendance, media coverage, financial involvement from public, building of new facilities, tourism and economic benefits for the host country; become a one-time event that exists on an international scale, a true Mega-event (Jago & Shaw, 1998).

The Cricket World Cup represents a major opportunity for not only further expanding the reach of the game of cricket across the globe but also for economic generation, infrastructural development, increased tourism through marketing and in process gain national prestige as the host countries. The countries chosen for comparison as the hosts of the Cricket World Cup are West Indies and Asia (India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh). Both host nations had different agendas, budgets and objectives. The West Indies were a first time host nation in the history of the Cricket World Cup for the 2007 edition and therefore required a complete new makeover across the eight host islands. Overall, it was estimated that at least US$250 million was spent on construction and makeover of stadia alone across the region, with regional expenditure on infrastructure and technology doubling that figure (Lorde, Greenidge, & Devonish, 2011). With the West Indies Cricket board, controversy is a bit too familiar, with the tournament itself, marred by the controversial death of Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer, and the negative economic impact of the early exits of Pakistan and India, turned out rather differently than the organizers had hoped (Majumdar, 2009). Asia on the other hand was a third time host nation of the Cricket World Cup with majority matches being held in India and therefore had the stadiums and regional infrastructure, experience and the world’s richest cricket body BCCI (Espncricinfo, 2011) to organize an event which not only attracted a lot of tourism, created jobs but also left behind the greatest legacy of India winning their second World Cup and the first as the host nation.

Typology of Events:

Hosting of mega-events are largely becoming the norm in today’s world to increase awareness and enhance the image of the host region in the international market place to provide a stronger competitive position and greater benefits for tourism and economy of the country (Ritchie & Smith, 1991). Similarly, a hall-mark event can be described as cultural and sporting events of international status which are held on either a regular or a one-off basis. A primary function of the hallmark event is to provide the host community with an opportunity to secure high prominence in the tourism market place (Hall, 1989). The stand out between a mega event/hallmark event and smaller sized events is the scale of investment, media coverage, the impact and legacy it leaves behind for the host nations. For example the structural, road, infrastructure development that occurred across the various eight different islands as West Indies being the host nation for the first ever time in the history of the Cricket World Cup was immense for the local community of the islands although the economic impact can be debated (Horne, 2010).  For Asia, being the third time hosts which included Bangladesh as a first time member, majority of development of infrastructure took place only in Bangladesh while India and Sri Lanka were given minor makeovers for hosting of the Cricket World Cup (Thawfeeq, 2010). The main intent of hosting the World Cup in Asia was for attracting large volumes of fans for tourism purposes to the host nations.

Planning Processes:

The planning process of a mega event is the most important factor before the actual conduction of the event by the host nation. There are three important factors during the planning of a mega event. First is the effective linking of the events investment with the development of tourism and urban regeneration. Second is clear strategy regarding the events investment, in advance of and following the event. The third aspect is whether the strategy emerged from analysis and decision-making or by learning, accident and political processes (Bramwell, 1997).

The International Cricket Council’s agenda or strategic plan around the conduction of the Cricket World Cup is primarily for improving the quality of international cricket, getting more fans engaged and playing the sport, penetrating and growing new markets by delivering world class events such as the Cricket World Cup (ICC, 2016).

West Indies 2007 Planning Process:

Bidding Process:

The bidding process involves the ICC’s executive committee voting for the hosts of the tournament after examining the bids made by the nations interested in hosting the Cricket World Cup. The 2007 bidding process comprised of eleven nations bidding for the Cricket World Cup, these nations included Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bermuda, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States. For the conduction of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, a minimum of eight cricket stadiums were required to host the event. The final eight venues that were decided were Barbados, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada and St. Kitts (ICC, 2004) with Bahamas, Bermuda and USA missing out on the chance of hosting.

Venues and Media Coverage:

The 2007 Cricket World Cup consisted of a total of fifty one matches, forty eight league stage matches spread equally across the eight venues; Kensington Oval (Barbados), Sabina Park (Jamaica), Beausejour Stadium (St. Lucia), Queens Park Oval (Trinidad and Tobago), Providence Stadium (Guyana), Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (Antigua and Barbuda), Queens Park (Grenada) and Warner Park (St.Kitts). While the two semi-finals and final were conducted at three different venues from the chosen eight, decided according to the popularity, infrastructure and the capacity of the stadiums. These three stadiums are Kensington Oval (Barbados), Sabina Park (Jamaica) and Beausejour Stadium (St. Lucia) (Cricbuzz, 2007).

ICC had a long standing arrangement with Star Sports who along with ESPN as ESPN Star Sports, held the global broadcast rights from 2007-2015 for all major ICC events. The Sports broadcasting network broadcasts primarily to India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka with further broadcasting reach into East Asia on specific channels. They also oversee the distribution of ICC events to the world audience and their broadcasting partners include OSN (Middle East and North Africa), SKY (United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland), Willow TV (USA), SuperSport (South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa), Fox Sports (Australia), SKY TV (New Zealand), ESPN (Caribbean), PTV and Ten Sports (Pakistan), Maasranga, GTV & BTV (Bangladesh), SLRC (Sri Lanka) as well as reaching Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Fiji, Singapore, Malaysia and Europe (ICC, 2007). The 2007 World Cup was televised in over 200 countries to a viewing audience estimated at more than two billion viewers.

Asia 2011 Planning Process:

Bidding Process:

The 2011 bidding process involved joint bids from Asia, Australia/New Zealand and England for the Cricket World Cup. The final decision was awarded by the ICC board in favor of the Asian bid (India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh) to host the 2011 Cricket World Cup in the Asian Sub Continent, with 2015 being awarded to Australia and New Zealand and the 2019 world cup being awarded to England, after negotiations were made for the future Cricket World Cup’s as well (Murgatroyd, 2006). Although the final bid for the 2011 Cricket World Cup was awarded to Asia, unfortunately Pakistan was stripped of its host nation title in 2009 due to uncertain security concerns, especially after the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team during their tour to Pakistan and therefore the 16 World Cup matches that were to be held in Pakistan were shared amongst the other three hosts, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh (Espncricinfo, 2009).

Venues and Media Coverage:

The 2011 World Cup consisted of a total of forty nine matches played across in three different nations of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Twenty nine matches including the final were hosted by India across eight different venues; MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chennai), Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium (Ahmedabad), Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium (Nagpur), Feroz Shah Kotla (Delhi), M. Chinnaswamy Stadium (Bengaluru), IS Bindra Stadium (Mohali), Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai) and Eden Gardens (Kolkata). Twelve matches were hosted by Sri Lanka across three different venues Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium (Hambantota), R. Premadasa Stadium (Colombo) and Pallekele International Cricket Stadium (Pallekele). Eight matches were hosted by Bangladesh across two venues Shere Bangla National Stadium (Dhaka) and Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (Chattogram) (Cricbuzz, 2011).

As mentioned earlier, ICC had a long standing arrangement with Star Sports who along with ESPN as ESPN Star Sports, held the global broadcast rights from 2007-2015 for all major ICC events (ICC, 2007) and the broadcasting rights for the 2011 Cricket World Cup were sold for $2 Billion to ESPN Star Sports. Therefore the broadcasting for the 2011 Cricket World Cup was covered and distributed by ESPN Star Sports, broadcasting across the world in almost about 220 countries (Tavakkoli, 2015). This was the first time that a Cricket World Cup was broadcasted in High Definition (HD) format along with 3G mobile streaming for the first time (Tavakkoli, 2015). 

Impact and Legacy:

In the Context of impact and legacy of a mega event, while a multifaceted concept, it is most often recognized and associated with the long term and permanent outcomes for a host nation, state or city from holding such an event. The outcomes in terms of impact and legacy can include economic, social, touristic, physical or environmental benefits and are often used as key factors for the bidding and hosting of such mega events (EPRS, 2014). The tourism benefits of hosting such mega events is believed to be the principal legacy which raise the profile of the host nations and regions along with introduction of world class facilities and improved infrastructure. This development therefore increases the attractiveness and business of the host nation and region in terms of tourism destinations (EPRS, 2014). Such events are not only potentially lucrative but also have tangible and intangible benefits such as inspiring people to take up sport, engender a feel good factor amongst the citizens of the host nation and region, can act as a catalyst for much needed urban regeneration and improving society, provide an opportunity for the host nation to showcase themselves internationally (EPRS, 2014).

West Indies Impact and Legacy (2007 Cricket World Cup):

The Cricket World Cup of 2007 hosted by the West Indies has left a debatable impact and legacy for the various nations that constitute as the West Indies cricket team. The hosting of the 2007 Cricket World Cup has left both direct and indirect impacts for all seven factors; benefits of cultural exchange, social problems, economic benefits, natural resource and cultural development, traffic congestion and pollution, price increases, and construction costs (Lorde, Greenidge, & Devonish, 2011). While one perception was that the cost of hosting the Cricket World Cup of 2007 would outweigh the benefits, after the games the locals perceived the benefits outweighed the costs (Lorde, Greenidge, & Devonish, 2011), while the other perception, of the outside world was that the World Cup of 2007 might have been easily ranked the worst with the controversial death of the of Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer and the negative economic impact because of the early exits of India and Pakistan from the tournament (Majumdar, 2009).

Although the perception of the locals was that the benefits outweighed the costs of the organizing the Cricket World Cup and that and that the a greater level of engagement with local residents prior to hosting a mega event such as the Cricket World Cup can maximize benefits, minimize costs and ensure successful outcomes (Lorde, Greenidge, & Devonish, 2011), that the tournament would change the economy of the West Indies islands and create opportunities for diplomatic and business networks, the reality remains that the impact of organizing the event that stood on the margins of disaster before it commenced and ultimately plummeted into complete chaos in the last minutes of the final has end up transforming the Caribbean for all times to come. Only the transformation is expected to negatively impact the well being of an already poor Caribbean population, the Cup’s lasting legacy (Majumdar, 2009).

A Cricket World Cup which was blighted by bad organization, crime, corruption which led the local cricket bodies almost bankrupt, set the islands fighting and left majority of the visitors disheartened and never wanting to spend another dollar in that part of the world. Incomplete construction of the Jamaica airport, construction delays for the new Sabina Park stadium and millions of dollars for beautification of the islands that never took place left a bitter taste for tourism of the Caribbean islands (Majumdar, 2009). Activity was driven by construction spending for the 2007 Cricket World Cup and a significant expansion in tourism capacity (International Monetary Fund, 2007), The International Monetary Fund had predicted that the Cricket World Cup 2007 would have a hard impact on the economy of the Caribbean islands, a report which suggested that the US $ 500 million spent in construction and modifications of the venues were unlikely to have a positive economic benefit, especially in the long term. The IMF report is skeptical about whether the positive effects on the tourism sector could extend into the medium or long term (Majumdar, 2009).  

Asia Impact and Legacy (2011 Cricket World Cup):

The greatest impact and legacy left by the 2011 Cricket World Cup has been the impact and legacy left by India by winning the World Cup and being the first host nation ever to win the World Cup in their own back yard. This mega event has truly left the greatest impact and legacy for a youth dominated nation like India, to dream and aspire of being cricketers or sport persons who can do the same for the nation in the future therefore in process creating a fit and healthy nation.

Coming to host nations which comprise of Asia i.e. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the hosting of the Cricket World Cup 2011 stimulated and generated development of sports infrastructure, city infrastructure, urban development which created job opportunities for people and attracted many fans from different parts of the world (Tavakkoli, 2015). The Cricket World Cup 2011 played a very important role in the regeneration of the downtown area of host cities, construction of stadiums and new infrastructure, environmental improvement, tourism development, city image improvement and district development are some positive outcomes of the event (Tavakkoli, 2015).

Public participation is a very important aspect of any mega event such as the Cricket World Cup, the Cricket World Cup of 2011 saw a lot of tangible spectators from across the globe attending the matches at the venues and also saw a lot of intangible spectators by media or internet therefore increasing the market and revenues of media companies. For private sector sponsors, the Cricket World Cup 2011 bought more and more business (Tavakkoli, 2015). The most visible characteristic of the Cricket World Cup was the location of the new stadiums, where in which they were constructed in new development districts therefore giving rise to urban development and stimulate new district development and city renewal (Tavakkoli, 2015).

With the boost of infrastructure construction, not just of the stadiums but also of the host cities, there was an improved image of the host areas and also an increase in the quality of life for the local communities. Land price and value increased, the host cities had an enormous boost to the real estate market (Tavakkoli, 2015). All this development having being executed saw the influx of more visitors and therefore inspired urban tourism.

Conclusion:

In comparison and analysis of the two Cricket World Cup’s, it can clearly be stated that the Cricket World Cup of 2011 (Asia) was far superior and therefore more successful than the Cricket World Cup of 2007 (West Indies) in aspects of organization, implementation, impact and legacy left behind by the event for their host nation. Cricket in the West Indies continues to be in turmoil because of corrupt practices and poor cricket boards who run the administration across the Caribbean islands while cricket in Asia continues to dominate and is encroaching into new territories of the continent. The Cricket World Cup of 2007, though providing benefits to the local communities in terms of jobs etc in the short term has only further depleted the tourism image and cost the cricketing and governmental bodies in the long term. While the Cricket World Cup of 2011 has improved the tourism in the continent due to the urban development that had taken place for the event, thus leading to further employability, increase in tourism, maintenance and utilization of venues by BCCI for local or national tournaments. Therefore, it can be stated that the execution of the 2011 Cricket World Cup (Asia) has led to far more benefits and has had a much more positive impact and legacy when compared to the 2007 Cricket World Cup (West Indies). 

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