Lalit Modi

A lot of corruption, a lot of kickbacks, and particularly doing business in India as a foreign company at this point in time is at your own risk, shall we say.

A lot of corruption, a lot of kickbacks, and particularly doing business in India as a foreign company at this point in time is at your own risk, shall we say.

Totally. You, Disney, you, News Corp, you are foreign corporations coming into our country and trying to play by your own rules here. Like, no, this is India. You play by our rules. So the net of it is, Lalit's got this blood vendetta against not just News Corp and Star, but like Rupert Murdoch personally, specifically. And what's the way to hit him where it hurts the most?

Totally. You, Disney, you, News Corp, you are foreign corporations coming into our country and trying to play by your own rules here. Like, no, this is India. You play by our rules. So the net of it is, Lalit's got this blood vendetta against not just News Corp and Star, but like Rupert Murdoch personally, specifically. And what's the way to hit him where it hurts the most?

Well, it's the biggest piece on his chessboard, pillar of News Corp. It's sports. And it's what Lalit thinks is like his birthright. Like he brought to India was professionalizing and televising sports. He needs to take that away from Rupert. So how are you going to do that? Well, who controls cricket in India? It's the National Cricket Board, the BCCI.

Well, it's the biggest piece on his chessboard, pillar of News Corp. It's sports. And it's what Lalit thinks is like his birthright. Like he brought to India was professionalizing and televising sports. He needs to take that away from Rupert. So how are you going to do that? Well, who controls cricket in India? It's the National Cricket Board, the BCCI.

So Lalit figures, okay, I need to engineer getting myself installed on the BCCI board. It turns out the way that you get to be on the board of the BCCI is first, you need to be either president of or just on the board of a state cricket association. So there's states within India. So in 1999, Lalit manages to join the board of one of the smaller Indian state cricket associations.

So Lalit figures, okay, I need to engineer getting myself installed on the BCCI board. It turns out the way that you get to be on the board of the BCCI is first, you need to be either president of or just on the board of a state cricket association. So there's states within India. So in 1999, Lalit manages to join the board of one of the smaller Indian state cricket associations.

That ends up not working out. And then in 2003, he manages to get appointed to the Rajasthan State Board and then quickly engineers what basically amounts to a coup of the board and gets himself elected in 2003-2004 as president of the Rajasthan Board. So now he's got a path to the BCCI.

That ends up not working out. And then in 2003, he manages to get appointed to the Rajasthan State Board and then quickly engineers what basically amounts to a coup of the board and gets himself elected in 2003-2004 as president of the Rajasthan Board. So now he's got a path to the BCCI.

He starts waging a campaign that the BCCI is vastly under-monetizing the television rights to international cricket. Mind you, he was directly involved in buying them for cheap when he was back at ESPN. But now he's like, I know how valuable these are. I know how many eyeballs these are getting. And you guys, now you're selling them for $10, $15 million a year.

He starts waging a campaign that the BCCI is vastly under-monetizing the television rights to international cricket. Mind you, he was directly involved in buying them for cheap when he was back at ESPN. But now he's like, I know how valuable these are. I know how many eyeballs these are getting. And you guys, now you're selling them for $10, $15 million a year.

These are worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

These are worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Yeah. This is an outrageous claim in 2004. It also just happens to be right. But saying something like this is crazy. He is a dark horse candidate to come in and reform the BCCI and fully commercialize this thing. quasi-governmental entity.

Yeah. This is an outrageous claim in 2004. It also just happens to be right. But saying something like this is crazy. He is a dark horse candidate to come in and reform the BCCI and fully commercialize this thing. quasi-governmental entity.

Yep. But most of the members are industrialists from the industrialist families, just like Modi. You know, their interests are Disney, News Corp, these big multinational corporations. I would really like to have a relationship with you all. Oh, maybe there's stuff we can do together. Maybe we should advertise our company's products on these cricket events.

Yep. But most of the members are industrialists from the industrialist families, just like Modi. You know, their interests are Disney, News Corp, these big multinational corporations. I would really like to have a relationship with you all. Oh, maybe there's stuff we can do together. Maybe we should advertise our company's products on these cricket events.

Maybe we can get to know you and advertise on other programming that you're doing. So it's rife with conflicts of interest, shall we say. And the only reason that Lollet doesn't have this conflict of interest is because he got ousted. He's ousted, exactly. And his life mission is to extract revenge here. So this campaign succeeds. And in 2005, he finally gets appointed to the BCCI.

Maybe we can get to know you and advertise on other programming that you're doing. So it's rife with conflicts of interest, shall we say. And the only reason that Lollet doesn't have this conflict of interest is because he got ousted. He's ousted, exactly. And his life mission is to extract revenge here. So this campaign succeeds. And in 2005, he finally gets appointed to the BCCI.