Rajasthan Royals Mission to be Top Sporting Organisation

“WE WANT TO BE ONE OF THE TOP SPORTING ORGANISATIONS IN THE WORLD”

Rajasthan Royals’ Jake Lush McCrum shares an insight into his journey to become Chief Executive of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, what makes the league so successful and the unique challenges the role brings.

In July 2021, Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals promoted 29-year-old Leeds University graduate Jake Lush-McCrum to the role of chief executive.

Lush McCrum has been with the Rajasthan Royals since 2018 and has played a crucial role in overseeing the franchise’s growth and participation in the biggest most commercialised professional cricket league in the world, achieving particular success in the digital transformation of the business. He is now focused on building a worldclass management team to execute the expansive vision that he and the board have set out. This vision has a core aim of transforming society through cricket, and cricket though innovation.

What were your aspirations when you left University?

It feels like a long time ago for me now, but I certainly wasn’t thinking about going into the sports industry when I left Leeds [University]. I was focused more on the investment space.

I studied abroad at US Amherst in my third year, and I did do more sports marketing and entrepreneurship and worked with the likes of Coca-Cola and other sports teams which was really interesting.

However, for me going straight into the sports industry in the UK didn’t seem likely as the roles were very specified and I wanted a broader more strategic role and so if I had gone in straight away it would have been a digital, sales, marketing role or equivalent. I wanted to learn about different business models, work with different companies and look at different career paths. Hence, I went more into the investment space.

I’ve always been passionate about sports and would talk to friends and family, saying I would love to be in that industry, I just didn’t see a way in straight out of university. But then progressing through when I joined Blenheim Chalcot, I moved into the investment arm advising for five of them. Having Rajasthan Royals there, it was banned at the time for those two years, so it wasn’t active however knowing it was part of the portfolio was really exciting.

As it was looking to relaunch I started to become more involved with that just from a UK perspective and then as we were working late one evening the owner of Rajasthan Royals came up to me and asked if I wanted to go to India and relaunch the Royals with the Ranjit [Barthakur] – the chairman – and bring across Blenheim Chalcot and UK/US process, learnings and strategy for a successful relaunch in 2018. Soon after that I went out to India and the rest is history.

It was a five-month project which went well, and I thoroughly enjoyed India, which was an extremely intense learning experience. I think I learnt more in those five months than in the previous five years in the UK.

It was incredible and with Ranjit pushing me into different areas in the business. It meant I was working with the digital team for a few months, then sponsorship, then I was in merchandising having to deal with Indian ➡

“It was a five-month project which went well, and I thoroughly enjoyed India, which was an extremely intense learning experience. I think I learnt more in those five months than in the previous five years in the UK.”

manufacturers and the complicated scenarios there. It enabled me to see all elements of the business which meant as I progressed through, I know the challenges faced in each area which hopefully means I’m capable of helping us adapt to improve.

Was it a difficult decision to move over to India?

It was a no brainer. On the walk home I called my parents and said ‘this seems brilliant, I can’t see any issues with this’, and they said go for it. Two weeks later I was out in India for a week to induct myself into the country, then after Christmas I went out full-time.

For me it was an easy decision. For others it may have been more difficult particularly after the first five months as it is incredibly intense. Others may have thought that they have had an incredible experience but now want to go back to their lives in the UK. But for me, I could learn so much more at the club and in the country. Also, with the impact we can make on others, as the IPL is the leading Cricket league in the world, we are looking to be the leading franchise in that, so everything we do can be a first in the league and the industry which is very motivational.

How have things been in the first three months as CEO especially with the restart of the tournament?

It is always hectic but that’s why I love it. Over the last year/ year and a half Ranjit, who was in the CEO role, naturally pulled back to allow me to grow into those responsibilities. It wasn’t that when I was appointed everything changed, it had actually happened in a staggered manner, which is helpful for me as I’ve gradually taken on more and more responsibilities.

When the change happened it was more how I approach the role differently about what we are trying to achieve so we built a five-year plan over the last year which gives us a great framework to focus the rest of the business.

The two months in India for the IPL first half were potentially some of the most challenging scenarios to deal with in terms of running a franchise with Covid in the country. I think the BCCI (The Board of Control for Cricket in India) did

a great job in creating the opportunity for it to happen to entertain a nation. I remember getting messages saying it was keeping them going and that kept us going. I remember having a chat with all the players and staff near the end of our stint in Mumbai just saying we know how much everyone here is struggling, people’s families are suffering, and we are grateful for everyone being here but the reason we are here is that we are making a difference to people on the outside. That resonated with everyone.

“From a business point of view the most important thing for me is digital Why is the IPL the most popular professional cricket league in

transformation so how well can the world? I think it’s two parts: we understand our fans, through CRM, customer data platforms and marketing automation” One is the quality on the field; Two is entertainment off the field. When the IPL launched [in 2007], they did an amazing job at optimising both. The league has the best players on the field so naturally, it gets the viewership. Then the entertainment of it. Having that clarity made it attractive for fans around the world and then off the field how to make it entertaining for those in the stadium and around the world to create that engagement. Naturally, there is an audience of 1.2 billion people in India which the majority are massive cricket fans which helps. But also, the way in which they have integrated foreign players means they have a good time, so when Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and others come over not only do they have a good couple of months, but they help develop the Indian players which is awesome for Indian cricket and cricket overall. Most importantly they have a great time and that means their social media presence, their engagement, and the content they put out brings in fans from around the world. I think those elements have made it so successful.

We need to keep innovating to remain at the top. We will naturally have the biggest viewership given the following, though for me it can scale even more significantly which is why I’m so excited to be in the role I’m in, and keeps me motivated.

Does it help being from the UK to bring British players to the Royals and how is your relationship with them?

I think we have a few connections in the UK – Manoj [Badale] the lead owner is based in the UK. There is certainly an element where they will have an increased level of comfort by having someone they know well. However, I think our team manager is exceptional. If you asked any player from any country who is the most important person within the franchise, they will probably say him which I totally agree with. The relationship he builds with all of the players is immense so as much as there is a benefit to me being here I cannot take credit for them feeling good coming over here. I give that all the team.

What are your expectations for the rest of the year and does the lack of fans have an impact on the quality of the team?

I think we have been playing without fans for a couple of years now so I don’t think that affects the quality. There is a chance there will be fans in this half of the IPL so we will wait and see what happens there, but it will be amazing if we could get fans in the stadium. It won’t be full capacity but that atmosphere and passion, the intensity of fans wanting to come to the stadium will be sold a hundred times over so that will be amazing.

As for the team our aims are to make the playoffs and once you are in the playoffs it’s a knockout competition to get

to the final. We are fifth at the moment and one win away from the fourth spot. The nice thing about where the IPL pauses is we have got seven games and everything to play for so even though we are currently out, it is in our own hands, and we will be working hard to get there.

How difficult has the process of reorganising the tournament to get it going again whether that’s in the UAE or India over the last few months?

It definitely helps that we have played there before. Firstly, from a BCCI perspective they have a good relationship with the Emirates Cricket board they know the stadiums and that they can run it safely which is very beneficial.

From our side, we know it can be executed safely here. We are in a different hotel this time, but we are in an awesome bubble here so yes there is a level of comfort and flexibility. The good thing is it was announced early enough that it was going to be in the UAE, so it gave us a couple of months to prepare.

Previously, we have had to move very fast in certain circumstances, this time was more flexible. When it got shifted in 2020 it was an extremely short time frame. We had to move very fast this time we could make sure we were getting the right property, the right facilities the right setup, and keep everyone updated around them. That process has been efficient this time. The replacement players have been the more active area where we have unfortunately not got Jos [Buttler], Jofra [Archer], Ben [Stokes] and Andrew [Tye] for this season so we have been working to get the right balance for the side. This has been the more complicated aspect. The preparation for the tournament has just been making sure the players are safe, training the players and then getting them to the UAE in the optimal time to quarantine to then train ready for matches.

How heavily involved with the players and the team are you with your role?

I think that given the way my role has progressed from general manager to chief operating officer, there was weighting of cricket within it. Because of that, there will still be a cricket proportion to that role.

As we are not the same size organisation as Liverpool FC for example there is not the same separation in roles so that involvement will be there. It does depend on what type of CEO you are, and your skillset is. Thankfully I think my strengths suit managing those high-pressure situations like the auction, optimising the group. You learn about the team and what works best for them.

I am not involved in players selected for the eleven and when it comes to the auction the question for me is never who is better than who, it is how we optimise the discussion between our cricket experts, so we get the right result.

Naturally we have someone in charge of analytics, a director of Cricket, strategy director, head coaches and all the rest of it. As we build out our cricket team, I will spend less time involved in those discussions and as our analytic teams grow, they will then formulate a list of players they want with prices and why they want them. I will just discuss if they are the right options. So, the commercial side will sit with me, but the team selection and coaching are left to the experts.

You mentioned the five-year plan, where do you see the franchise going and what are your goals for the next few years?

To give a clear line we want to be one of the top sporting organisations in the world. We want to be the most advanced cricketing franchise both from a perspective of innovation and.

Over the last few years, we have ➡

finished fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth. That is not the performance I want us to achieve as a franchise. We want to transition to become a regular in the playoffs and winning regularly and to do that transition we are looking to spend more on analytics and enhance our cricket structure.

If you are not performing well on the field, it is very challenging to achieve the scale you want in all the elements you want off it. Better on field performance will naturally increase our sponsorship [opportunities] and the brands that associate with you. We have done a good job of getting some top brands on board – like Red Bull and Colgate – who partner with us now as they know it’s not just about visibility it’s how we integrate across every element of the value chain. For example, with Red Bull we did a documentary with them and produced some amazing content.

From a business point of view the most important thing for me is digital transformation so how well can we understand our fans, through CRM, customer data platforms and marketing automation. How can we create a personalised experience for the fan and get as many fans into our database as possible so we can give them the best experience? This then leads to monetisation in the future.

There is no quick fix for that but having the right infrastructure and people managing and segmenting the audience and personalising that communication then leads to a much better experience which adds overall value.

Do you see the IPL potentially trying to grow outside of the usual cricketing nations in which it already has a presence? For example, the United States or individual games being played overseas.

The league is trying to grow globally and wants to expand its fanbase as much as possible. How they will do that is hard to say at the moment.

The United States probably is a target market as there is a huge South Asian population in the US. I think there is something like six million subscribes to Willow TV which is purely Bollywood [movies] and cricket. The fact is that the US has much greater purchasing power than India. If you have 100,000 subscribers versus a 1 million or 10 million in India it will probably generate more revenue. The US is an exciting proposition for cricket as a whole as if that market can expand then it will benefit the IPL and cricket in its entirety. How that is done will be interesting to see.

Will it be done from digital engagement? Or Esports a potential avenue or exhibition matches? We will continue to do that ourselves and in other ways. For example, we just acquired a Caribbean cricket team because it naturally grows the fanbase and it’s a chance to test new ideas either through players or analytics, strategy etc. We can then bring them to the first team [in India]. We want to transform society through cricket, so we feel we can help Barbados who can in turn help us grow. U