"The quality of stadia, we’re doing a lot of work in terms of upgradation of the stadia, making sure that the viewers/spectators get a fantastic ground with good facilities, and the players feel absolutely at home and feel great about the facilities that are provided in stadia. And how it looks— the viewing experience. And I can assure our viewers that we are leaving no stone unturned to make sure that the quality that you will see on your television will be no less than some of the best leagues across the world that you can think of."
Will there be innovations in the conduct or coverage of the ISL that have not been seen in Indian football before?
We are first starting with production values and are spending a huge amount of money on production. I won’t say it’s going to be of English Premier League quality, but it’s going to be really close. In addition, because we have a broadcasting partner in Star who are also our joint venture partners, they are going to put all their resources and expertise behind the coverage. I think you are going to see the best production values you’ve ever seen coming out of football matches played in India.There may be some innovations in the games to make it more exciting, so maybe after 90 minutes you go straight to penalties if there are draws, things which football fans might just enjoy. It may make sense to do things like mike-ing the managers, it’s nice when you’re having a new league when you have to be entertaining. Our objective is to make it innovative and exciting, we are not ruling anything out, we are keen on maintaining the tradition of what football is, but we’re also planning to be innovative, especially with the social media and the things that can be done for now, we do want to be on the cutting edge with that.
That one statement about 'innovations' gives you the kind of thinking that is within the ISL management. They want to create a tamasha, football can take a back seat, they want it to be entertainment and not a sport. Those idiots have no idea about football. They are gonna introduce penalty shoot outs in league! Why? Just because they think penalties are exciting, like super-overs?
And why the hell do we need manager voice? Why can't the game itself be in the focus? These cricket minded people suck big time. They might even mike the players like they do in IPL.
I think this is not due fully to the cricket influence. ISL is an American funded league as well from IMG and this is how MLS began as well, with shoot-outs and stuff. Hell, today we still have coach interviews at halftime!
I want goalposts to blink in red to signify the ball has entered the goal, three 30 minutes play with 'nimbu-pani' breaks in between (with lots of advertisements), and cutting edge innovations like Salmon Khan dancing on the sidelines throughout the matches (I would like all the owners to dance but do not know for sure if Utsav Parekh can dance saala).
That will be total entertainment, and yes, will draw a lot of eyeballs! Looking forward eagerly for this tamasha to start!!
Comments
Will there be innovations in the conduct or coverage of the ISL that have not been seen in Indian football before?
We are first starting with production values and are spending a huge amount of money on production. I won’t say it’s going to be of English Premier League quality, but it’s going to be really close. In addition, because we have a broadcasting partner in Star who are also our joint venture partners, they are going to put all their resources and expertise behind the coverage. I think you are going to see the best production values you’ve ever seen coming out of football matches played in India.There may be some innovations in the games to make it more exciting, so maybe after 90 minutes you go straight to penalties if there are draws, things which football fans might just enjoy. It may make sense to do things like mike-ing the managers, it’s nice when you’re having a new league when you have to be entertaining. Our objective is to make it innovative and exciting, we are not ruling anything out, we are keen on maintaining the tradition of what football is, but we’re also planning to be innovative, especially with the social media and the things that can be done for now, we do want to be on the cutting edge with that.
http://www.indiansuperleague.com/interviews/28-jefferson-slack-we-ve-given-the-clubs-a-level-playing-field