Lalit Modi is widely regarded as the inventor of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Board of Control for Cricket in India launched the IPL with Modi as the commissioner. He was later charged for match-fixing allegations, leading to his removal from the position. Modi, however, has now taken a direct hit at the board for doing away with the traditional home-and-away format of the elite 20-over tournament.
During a recent interview, Modi has claimed that not hosting two home and as many away matches for all ten franchises in the IPL is leading to the BCCI losing out on its revenue from matches. He has further said that all franchises are under a contract to play home and away matches against each team in a season, a tradition which has been hit ever since two more franchises were added to the league in 2022.
“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,” Modi told Sportstar.
Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans entered the cash-rich tournament in 2022, and have also developed a vast fan base. However, Modi believes that the BCCI should not have increased the number of teams if they could not keep up with the customary home-and-away format.
“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. 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 expressed further.
IPL currently has 74 matches in each season, including 70 league stage games and four playoff fixtures. However, if the old format is followed with ten teams at disposal, it would lead to an addition of 20 matches, increasing the number to 94 games in a season.Â
“If there were 94 matches today on a home-and-away basis at INR 118 crore per game, the media rights alone would be worth an extra INR 2,400 crore. That is INR 2,400 crore in additional revenue for the BCCI. Of this, INR 1,200 crore would have gone to the 10 teams, INR 120 crore each, and team values would automatically have been higher,” Modi explained.
