Lalit Modi

And a huge chunk of that just went to international cricket.

And a huge chunk of that just went to international cricket.

So assuming it's a $2 billion ad market, they need to go sell and take up 5% of the entire advertising market per year just...

So assuming it's a $2 billion ad market, they need to go sell and take up 5% of the entire advertising market per year just...

So Lalit actually has a great, amazing quote about this dynamic. In the way only Lalit can speak, here's the quote. Being the big daddy for all sporting events in India, already with the BCCI bilaterals, which the international matches bilaterals against other countries, all the money that was there in the market that brands had for spending was consumed. There were no more budgets left.

So Lalit actually has a great, amazing quote about this dynamic. In the way only Lalit can speak, here's the quote. Being the big daddy for all sporting events in India, already with the BCCI bilaterals, which the international matches bilaterals against other countries, all the money that was there in the market that brands had for spending was consumed. There were no more budgets left.

We had sucked it all out by taking the price of BCCI in aggregate from a few million dollars to a billion dollars. I had already sucked that money out. And so when I looked at where are we going to get the money to make IPL work, I needed women and children.

We had sucked it all out by taking the price of BCCI in aggregate from a few million dollars to a billion dollars. I had already sucked that money out. And so when I looked at where are we going to get the money to make IPL work, I needed women and children.

He's spot on. It's exactly what the dynamic is. And again, back to the now league dynamics of setting up this league versus BCCI just running the one international team. Again, look at the NFL.

He's spot on. It's exactly what the dynamic is. And again, back to the now league dynamics of setting up this league versus BCCI just running the one international team. Again, look at the NFL.

It is super important that your central revenue stream of your TV rights deals and your central sponsorships, that that be very, very large and that that be the most important revenue stream for your teams because that's what keeps competitive parity. The risk to the NFL's model is that the Dallas Cowboys or the San Francisco 49ers start making too much local revenue.

It is super important that your central revenue stream of your TV rights deals and your central sponsorships, that that be very, very large and that that be the most important revenue stream for your teams because that's what keeps competitive parity. The risk to the NFL's model is that the Dallas Cowboys or the San Francisco 49ers start making too much local revenue.

And then they're making more money than the other teams and all of a sudden the balance is out of whack.

And then they're making more money than the other teams and all of a sudden the balance is out of whack.

Well, we'll come back to that in a minute. Okay. So you would think they're kind of between a rock and a hard place here. This is where Lalit and IMG's just incredible entrepreneurial genius comes in. They say, we are going to make the IPL into an entirely different product with a different target advertiser and sponsor than our international cricket.

Well, we'll come back to that in a minute. Okay. So you would think they're kind of between a rock and a hard place here. This is where Lalit and IMG's just incredible entrepreneurial genius comes in. They say, we are going to make the IPL into an entirely different product with a different target advertiser and sponsor than our international cricket.

Yes. They need to attract women to view the game and then advertisers who are going to advertise products at women for IPL. So totally different market segments in terms of advertisers.

Yes. They need to attract women to view the game and then advertisers who are going to advertise products at women for IPL. So totally different market segments in terms of advertisers.

Yes. And whatever else she was going to put on were soap operas. So I'm going to read a quote here from Andrew Wildwood at IMG, who was Lalit's partner. There were a number of guiding principles behind how we put IPL together. One was that it should reflect the characteristics of modern India. So energetic, colorful, noisy, exciting.

Yes. And whatever else she was going to put on were soap operas. So I'm going to read a quote here from Andrew Wildwood at IMG, who was Lalit's partner. There were a number of guiding principles behind how we put IPL together. One was that it should reflect the characteristics of modern India. So energetic, colorful, noisy, exciting.