Lalit Modi

Yes, I was taking it as tautological that that is what you are trying to achieve.

Yes, I was taking it as tautological that that is what you are trying to achieve.

Now, importantly, this does not mean you are simply creating spectacle and controversy and entertainment without quality sport. You know, that would be the Harlem Globetrotters. That would be the Savannah Bananas. Amazing, incredible businesses and products. Never going to be the biggest thing in the world in their sports.

Now, importantly, this does not mean you are simply creating spectacle and controversy and entertainment without quality sport. You know, that would be the Harlem Globetrotters. That would be the Savannah Bananas. Amazing, incredible businesses and products. Never going to be the biggest thing in the world in their sports.

Yep. So because of everything we've talked about to this point in the episode, the first part of getting the best players in the world, that was actually pretty easy for the IPL. That's what created the opportunity.

Yep. So because of everything we've talked about to this point in the episode, the first part of getting the best players in the world, that was actually pretty easy for the IPL. That's what created the opportunity.

Correct. The BCCI has quartered resource access to the best talent in the world. Yep. Because they have all the money, and they have the Indian fans who care about watching the best Indian players, and they have essentially veto right over the best Indian players playing anywhere else. Now the trickier one, competitive parity. This is where so many leagues go wrong.

Correct. The BCCI has quartered resource access to the best talent in the world. Yep. Because they have all the money, and they have the Indian fans who care about watching the best Indian players, and they have essentially veto right over the best Indian players playing anywhere else. Now the trickier one, competitive parity. This is where so many leagues go wrong.

To get competitive parity among the teams on the field, you need every franchise to have access to the same opportunity to win. no matter how much money they have or how much money the ownership group has outside of the franchise.

To get competitive parity among the teams on the field, you need every franchise to have access to the same opportunity to win. no matter how much money they have or how much money the ownership group has outside of the franchise.

Yep. And we'll get into this later in the episode. But here in the U.S., I think this is where Major League Baseball has gotten really, really, really wrong over the last set of decades. It's the Yankees. It's the Dodgers.

Yep. And we'll get into this later in the episode. But here in the U.S., I think this is where Major League Baseball has gotten really, really, really wrong over the last set of decades. It's the Yankees. It's the Dodgers.

Yep. And then the worst example of this is the European Soccer Leagues. It's the top two, five franchises at the top that are spending the most money, buying the best players and winning every year.

Yep. And then the worst example of this is the European Soccer Leagues. It's the top two, five franchises at the top that are spending the most money, buying the best players and winning every year.

Yep. So now think about setting up this new league in India. For reasons I'll get into in a sec, you need to have a diverse ownership group. As in, you can't just have super wealthy industrialists owning all of these teams, right?

Yep. So now think about setting up this new league in India. For reasons I'll get into in a sec, you need to have a diverse ownership group. As in, you can't just have super wealthy industrialists owning all of these teams, right?

But if you look at Indian society at this point in time, it's so bifurcated between the billionaires of these conglomerates, the Ambani's of the world and et cetera, et cetera, you know, the Tata family. And then other people who you would want involved but are going to have nowhere near the same amount of godlike resources that these other people have.

But if you look at Indian society at this point in time, it's so bifurcated between the billionaires of these conglomerates, the Ambani's of the world and et cetera, et cetera, you know, the Tata family. And then other people who you would want involved but are going to have nowhere near the same amount of godlike resources that these other people have.

Yep. So as you're setting up these franchises, you need to make them no-brainer investments for whoever makes them, and you can't have this have-and-have-not dynamic. So the first order of business, which is the easiest one, is stadiums. So, Ben, you were mentioning teams running in the red in the English Premier League.

Yep. So as you're setting up these franchises, you need to make them no-brainer investments for whoever makes them, and you can't have this have-and-have-not dynamic. So the first order of business, which is the easiest one, is stadiums. So, Ben, you were mentioning teams running in the red in the English Premier League.