- By Gurmeet Batra
- Thu, 04 Sep 2025 03:38 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Lalit Modi, the former chairman of the Indian Premier League, spilt the beans on how his unconventional approach of "breaking broadcasting rules" saved the inaugural game of the tournament, between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, on April 18, 2008.
Modi said that he was ready to 'break every rule in the book' and took a huge risk by allowing other broadcasters to air the inaugural IPL match live, potentially breaching the exclusivity agreement with Sony.
"Everything, everything was dependent on that one game. I broke every rule in the book that day. I signed the contract, an exclusive contract with Sony, but Sony didn't have the reach. I said open the signal. Now it was available everywhere, right? And I told all the broadcasters who lost out, all of you, all news channels, go live," Lalit told Michael Clarke during a recent podcast.
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The former chairman of the Indian Premier League revealed he gambled on allowing other channels to broadcast the game while fearing that a failure would spell the end of his career.
"Sony said 'I'll sue you'. I said 'Sue me later, forget about it? Ok, we are going live now because you don't have the reach. I needed everybody to watch the first game. If the first game had flopped, I was dead," he added.
The gamble paid off sensationally, courtesy of Brendon McCullum's explosive 158* off 73 balls, which set up a thrilling 140-run win for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
