SRK (below) and artistes at the opening ceremonies of two big-ticket events at Salt Lake Stadium. Picture above by Amit Datta

Salt Lake stadium hosted two big-ticket inaugurations in the space of 18 months and 10 days. The IPL V opening ceremony on April 2, 2013, and the Indian Super League (ISL) football opener on Sunday. Here’s a report card on how the two programmes stack up against each other.

Seating capacity: 68,000 (ISL); 57,500 (IPL).

Length of show: 45 minutes (ISL); two hours-plus (IPL).

Variety of acts: If the Morani brothers of Cineyug were in charge in association with Red Chillies Entertainment for IPL, it was another event management biggie DNA Entertainment Networks for ISL.

KKR boss Shah Rukh Khan spared no effort or expenditure to jazz up the event on his team’s home turf. So, besides the Bollywood acts featuring the Badshah himself, Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone, the IPL relied heavily on imported talent. Sanostra, a show production company based in Germany, brought rhythmic gymnastics dancers, trekkers and flying drummers. There were Chinese women drummers from Red Poppies, which had featured in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. The event had flying acrobats from Germany, stilt walkers from Teatro Pavana, Holland, and cheerleaders from United Cheers. Xander Nichting, who had a solo violin segment, provided the background score for much of the imported acts.

At the ISL event, the lone foreign act was by ball juggler Laura Biondo.

Pritam was in charge of the Indian segment of the IPL gala, bringing a bit of Tagore too (recited by Shah Rukh).

The jugalbandi of Salim-Sulaiman, who sang the ISL anthem Salaam India live, were in command of the ISL function.

Other than Priyanka Chopra’s sizzling act, the other segment was the showcasing of percussion and dance forms of eight cities or states to which the teams belong. It doesn’t get more desi than that. (Score: ISL 7.5/10, IPL 9/10).

Headline act: In terms of international profile, Pitbull was the biggest name and was the last to take the IPL stage. But the rapper couldn’t connect with the crowd to the extent Shah Rukh had earlier.

Priyanka, who had breezed into the stadium for a 30-minute rehearsal in the afternoon, danced like a dream hours later to her hit numbers, starting with Tu ne mari entryiaan. She was more deft at working the crowd, using smatterings of Bengali like “Amar songe clap.” (Score: PC 9.5/10, Pitbull 7/10).

Celeb quotient: Despite the presence of all the IPL captains alongside SRK, Katrina and Deepika, the ISL brought together a constellation of stars from cricket (Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh), Bollywood and business, besides the marquee footballers of all the teams. ISL easily put quite a few goals past IPL. (Score: ISL 9/10, IPL 7.5/10).

Loudest cheers: Though the crowd had danced its heart out with the Badshah when he got on stage last April, jiving to everything from Yeh kaali kaali aankhen to Chammak challo, when Priyanka announced on Sunday the names of Sourav Ganguly (representing Atletico de Kolkata, the first team to get on stage) and Sachin Tendulkar (for the last team, Kerala Blasters) it was as if the roar of Eden Gardens mingled with the decibel power of soccer fans.

And yes, they chanted their names too, briefly drowning out the subsequent announcements. And at kick-off, no DJ was needed to make the crowd go “Kolkata Kolkata”. (Score: ISL 10/10, IPL 7/10).

Bandobast: The police was more relaxed on Sunday. Yes, the bags were checked but not to the extent of newspapers and water bottles being seized, which was the case at the IPL opener. (Score: ISL 9/10, IPL: 6/10).

Seating and viewing comfort: Those in the newly installed bucket seats were the happiest. Everyone had an eyeful as all the seats were in the galleries and most of the performances used the entire ground.

Those who bought the less expensive of the floor tickets in IPL were soon cursing people standing in front of them, blocking their view.

Things had got so unruly that by the time Pitbull took the stage, many were quarrelling or simply leaving, being unable to see the stage from behind a standing (often on chairs) wall of humanity.

Lack of water for the summer show had also been a peeve point. On Sunday, the stage was right in the middle of the ground and there were 17 screens across the upper tier for a better view of the action. (Score: ISL 9.5/10, IPL 6/10).

Lights: Derby regulars must have been awestruck. Salt Lake stadium has never looked prettier. The illumination was brighter than ever before. (Score: ISL 10/10, IPL 8.5/10).

Fireworks: Diwali came early to the city. But compared to the shower that concluded the IPL inauguration, it’s a tie.

Last word: “Let’s not get into comparisons. But without doubt, the stadium looks fabulous tonight,” said Sourav Ganguly in an Atletico T-shirt as he greeted every acquaintance and obliged each request for selfies in the VIP gallery.