Let's look at how much the background of IPL team owners is linked to their team's performance, and whether it makes a difference. So far, we've had owners from old economy, new economy/services, enterprises in multiple businesses, management groups, and of course, Bollywood. Looking at the performances in the three seasons of IPL and the first CL, you get some rather clear figures.
In the 2008 season of the IPL, when it began, Rajasthan Royals won the tournament. They were run by Emerging Media/Investors In Cricket, a management group. On the field, with the players, Shane Warne handled everything. He managed his players as captain and coach, and did a good job with them. The other semi-finalists were Chennai (Finalists, owned by India Cements, manufacturing), Delhi (GMR, Infrastructure) and Kings XI Punjab (Preity Zinta, Bollywood actress amongst others). While Preity's team did rather well, they somehow didn't quite make it, and even axed five domestic Indian players on the way. The other Bollywood-owned team, Kolkata Knight Riders (SRK), were patchy, before ultimately ending a failure. They too axed some domestic players, which became a news-spinner, and one eventually left the franchise.
In the 2009 season, Deccan Chargers (Deccan Chronicle, media) won the tournament, pipping Royal Challengers Bangalore (Vijay Mallya, lifestyle/services/you know what) to the post. The other semi-finalists were again Delhi (GMR, infrastructure) and Chennai (India Cements, manufacturing). None of the Bollywood teams made it. Kings XI never recovered from the rocky start in the series and were out last, while Rajasthan Royals, with actress Shilpa Shetty getting some stake, axed some Indian players, and floundered throughout the season. Kolkata Knight Riders were a failure of epic proportions. There was also a hard-fought bid war between two Bollywood-owned teams for a Bangladesh pacer, where one team went for it purely for the image, while another had the flawed reasoning as a replacement for a top player. That Bangladesh pacer was a huge flop, getting only one game and giving it away, while the other team picked up a very cheap South African who did well for them. Of all the teams in the Champs League, none of them made the semis, with IPL winners Deccan getting knocked out in the first stage by less-fancied Somerset and T&T.
Now, there are no Bollywood teams in the semis yet again. Kings XI Punjab were dross throughout the series, as also Kolkata, except in patches. Rajasthan Royals were a failure again, bar a five-match winning streak. Mumbai (Reliance Industries, old and new economy) eventually made the semis for the first time. The others were the same as in the 2009 edition, again lifestyle/media/cement.
Does it give a hint of who's better at running a cricket team? Maybe, if you look at who they are and how they work. The business enterprises try to run it as a business, yet, at the same time, make it look meaningful- as against the most profitable Kolkata never making the semis even once. They seem to do a lot of research on their players and what's needed, when they go in to auction, or appointing support staff. The Bollywood folks, in comparison, seem to treat it more like a means of publicity and a televised holiday, and the teams had axed their Indian players more so because they wanted to accommodate friends and associates, rather than for any operational reason. To sum this up, knowledge, operational skills and possibly business acumen, and not glamour, call the shots in this glamorous event.
If Indian state teams are thrown open for ownership, I'd prefer to see the BCCI keep Tinseltown far, far away from the bidding.
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