Dubai’s largest billboard a sign of ILT20's grand ambitions

Huge sign covers one side of Dubai International Stadium as organisers look to get more fans through the gates in Season 2

The giant sign on the Dubai International Stadium ahead of the DP World International League T20. Chris Whiteoak / The National

When David White arrived in the CEO’s office at DP World International League HQ for the first time last September, he had one item in his in-tray. An item marked “crowds”.

Whether it was written in block caps with a bold marker, underlined three times, and with a string of exclamation marks is unconfirmed. Either way, it is clear what the most pressing point on the agenda is ahead of the start of Season 2 next week.

The 62-year-old, who played two Tests for his country during his playing days, landed in Dubai after 12 years at New Zealand Cricket as chief executive.

He took up an offer from Mubashshir Usmani, the general secretary of the Emirates Cricket Board, to come and help develop the country’s franchise T20 competition.

In many ways, he will have found a tournament in good health. After one pilot edition so far, the ILT20 already has an enviable roster of players.

Operationally, the first season was flawlessly run. As you might expect, given the UAE’s wealth of experience hosting major cricket, dating back 40 years, and including IPLs, PSLs, and even T20 World Cups.

The first ILT20 season proved popular among players, too. Six weeks enjoying UAE hospitality is never a chore, after all.

The franchises already have a wealth of expertise in administration. Three of the six are offshoots of Indian Premier League teams. Two others have since taken on teams in the Women’s Premier League in India.

Australia batter David Warner will captain Dubai Capitals at the ILT20. AFP

And the remaining team, Desert Vipers, were arguably the most impressive of all the start-up franchises last season. They finished runners-up on the field but were the most vivid presence off it.

For many onlookers abroad, though, the salient memory of Season 1 was the swathes of empty seats in the stands. Other than the opening game, when Jason Derulo performed on crutches to a third-full Dubai International Stadium, and the final, which – happily – was rammed, the attendances were underwhelming.

"Our big focus this year is to get big crowds,” White said. “Fair to say, the crowds were not as big as they would have liked last year, so the big focus for us this year is maximising attendance.

“How? We have done a lot of community engagement. We have really worked hard over the past three or four months. There have been a lot of ILT20 tournaments with schools.

Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi is lined-up to play a minimum of four games for Desert Vipers. AP

“There was a tournament in October that was basically a trial for UAE players to get drafted, and that was really successful. We have been integrating a lot with the community.”

More household names will be featuring this season. David Warner will arrive fresh from his glorious send off from Test cricket in Australia, to captain Dubai Capitals.

Shaheen Afridi is lined up for a minimum of four games for Desert Vipers. Shadab Khan and Azam Khan will be joining him, while two more Pakistan internationals are set to be announced by the league in the coming days.

But the organisers are not relying on star power to sell their event this time around. They have an eye on the grass roots, too. There will be fan villages, live music, and carnivals for kids. An hour before every game, 84 boys and girls will be playing on the ground.

A nationwide schools competition, split into pools representing each of the six franchises, will reach its climax on Sunday. There was also a development tournament that was essentially an advert for players to catch the eye of the franchises last October.

“This league is a key plank in the development of UAE cricket,” White said. “It is about developing players from a high-performance point of view, but also increasing the profile of the game here for youngsters in the UAE.

“I think we have had good cut through this year and hopefully that will be reflected in the crowds. It is a key focus so that the look and feel from a broadcast point of view is good as well. We are very confident we are going to do it.”

It was White who pushed for the massive billboard which currently blocks out one side of the Dubai International Stadium, which can be seen from miles around.

The stadium is an eye-catching landmark for users of Hessa Street and the E311 on its own. All the more so now it has a giant image of Shaheen’s face bearing down from it.

They believe 5,000 motorists will see the billboard on a daily basis. Given the volume of cars on Dubai’s roads now, it feels like that might be an underestimate.

It is 300 metres wide and 16 metres high. White wonders whether it might be the biggest in Dubai at present, while Ishan Chopra, ILT20s head of partnerships, reckons it is different from anything else out there.

Organisers hope community engagement and giant posters of star player on the Dubai International Stadium will help boost attendances for Season 2 of the ILT20. Chris Whiteoak / The National

“Go big or go home was our thinking,” said Chopra, who did seven seasons of the IPL in a similar role before moving to Dubai ahead of the launch of ILT20.

“There are so many hoardings, but they are costly. So why not use real estate that actually belongs to us, and is cricket? It ties us to the sport.

“And a stadium wrap is a head turner. If it was on a hoarding, it can be hit and miss because people see hoardings all the time. Even in India, we don’t have stadium wraps.

“Having invested a lot in this, and got the permission to put it up, we wanted the message to stand out. The plain, big, bold text is hard to miss, even when you are driving.”

Chopra also ordered darker colours than is used in the rest of the tournament branding, thinking that would help it cope with fading that will be inevitable in the sun over the next six weeks.

It is made of mesh so wind can move through, and fireproof, too. And now they have done it once, the 300 Hilti bolts will remain in place so they can repeat the use of the “branding asset” in the future.

DP World International League T20 chief executive Daivd White says the tournament is a 'key plank in the development of UAE cricket'. Chris Whiteoak / The National

“This is a fresh challenge and a new audience to engage with,” Chopra said. “Obviously the IPL is a giant, and we need to consider this as a start-up.

“That is what we strive to achieve eventually. This is about having the best of the best trying to make a new product into something big.”

Something else that might help with footfall would be a few close matches. It was an odd feature of Season 1 that few games ended in the final over, let alone the last ball. That, and rivalries between teams, would be a good tonic, according to White, but can only come about organically.

“One of the challenges for the league is to build up rivalries and tribalism,” White said. “It is new. A number of the teams are IPL based, so to build up that rivalry between the teams in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, and their different brands, is something that is going to take a bit of time.

“You can’t just expect that to happen overnight. I think that will evolve, especially as we invest in our community and teams, and their fan bases.

“We would love every game to be going to the last ball, and the fans would too. Hopefully we can have a few close games.”