All eyes are on the weatherman and the cloudy Manchester sky as arch-rivals India and Pakistan face off in the most anticipated, sold-out clash of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The weather has been the dampner over the last week, with four matches being rain-affected, of which three have been total washouts.
For the record, the weather forecast is not bleak like the one for the India-New Zealand affair on June 13 that was washed out. The meteorology department predicts “light rain showers and a moderate breeze” on the match day. Saturday saw a sharp shower early in the evening which forced Pakistan team to practise indoors. While it was mostly cloudy and windy, the rains stayed away for most part of the day.
ALSO READ: Revisiting India-Pakistan encounters in World Cup history
But nothing will hurt the broadcasting partner of International Cricket Council more than an India-Pakistan duel being washed out. The advertising inventory has been sold, with the broadcaster saying that ad spots for the India-Pakistan game to be held at The Old Trafford on Sunday, going for as much as Rs 8-10 lakh per 10 seconds. “Sunday’s match is expected to have very high viewership. It’s the TRPs which are crucial overall. So, if the game is affected due to rains or is a washout, it will affect the overall viewership. And the it is definitely bad for future acquisitions as the returns here will impact them,” said a senior broadcast official on conditions of anonymity.
“Rain-marred or washed-out India matches hurt broadcaster more because the advertiser’s first preference is to get a spot in India matches,” he further added.
In India, Star Sports is the main broadcaster while in Pakistan the rights are with PTV Sports and Ten Sports. It's not the just the broadcaster which is hurt over washouts or rain-affected matches, cineplexes, too, are showcasing these matches on big screens and have paid for the rights in both countries.
While a washout doesn’t affect the ICC directly as it gets the value of the rights sold via tender for a 10-year period, but more rain-affected matches are a poor advertisement for its marquee event.
ICC has been criticised for lack of reserve days for rain-affected matches. ICC's outgoing CEO David Richardson had said, “Factoring in a reserve day for every match at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup would significantly increase the length of the tournament and practically would be extremely complex to deliver.
“It would impact pitch preparation, team recovery and travel days, accommodation and venue availability, tournament staffing, volunteer and match officials availability, broadcast logistics and, very importantly, the spectators who, in some instances, have travelled hours to be at the game. There is also no guarantee that the reserve day would be free from rain either.”
Questions have been raised on the timing of the tournament but the dates were already slotted in the ICC’s FTP cycle. A section of the broadcast partners feels there is some merit in the criticism copped by the ECB on the scheduling of the World Cup in June when rain can affect matches while keeping the Ashes for later, drier period in July-August.
