Lalit Modi Slams BCCI On Rs 2,400 Crore IPL 'Loss': "This Is Not What We Sold"
Lalit Modi claims IPL suffers a Rs 2400 crore loss due to not following the original home-and-away format.
- Lalit Modi claims IPL is missing out on Rs 2,400 crore revenue by not following the original format
- IPL was meant to have full home-and-away matches with each team playing twice
- Current IPL has 74 matches instead of 90 in league phase due to format changes
Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has made a significant revelation, claiming that the league is missing out on an additional revenue of Rs 2,400 crore by failing to adhere to the originally agreed format. Modi, who expressed delight at the league's soaring valuation after two franchises -- Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) -- were sold for a combined fee of approximately Rs 31,000 crore, wants the board to return to a full home-and-away format to recoup these perceived losses. According to Modi, every side was originally intended to play each other twice. With the league expanding to 10 teams in 2022, such a structure would result in a 90-match league phase followed by four knockout games. However, the IPL has continued to operate with only 74 matches by altering the home-and-away system.
"For every game, the BCCI gets 50 per cent, and the remaining 50 per cent is distributed to teams. Consequently, teams are now losing out on 20 games. It is a contractual obligation, given the fees they are paying, to provide them with home-and-away fixtures," he said in an interview with Sportstar.
"The home-and-away format is where the value lies. If there is no space in the calendar, do not increase the number of teams. It is as simple as that. That is not what we sold. Has everybody signed off on this? I guarantee they have not," he added.
"Why are they not playing home and away? There are excuses, but it is a contractual obligation and a commercial transaction for the teams."
Modi believes the reduction in matches directly impacts the valuations of both the franchises and the league itself.
"If there were 94 matches today on a home-and-away basis at Rs 118 crore per game, the media rights alone would be worth an extra Rs 2,400 crore. That is Rs 2,400 crore in additional revenue for the BCCI," he explained.
"Of this, Rs 1,200 crore would have gone to the 10 teams, Rs 120 crore each, and team values would automatically have been higher."