Modi Say: - Our Objective is to be the single largest sporting league in the World
At a time when some of Europe’s leading football teams are on the brink of bankruptcy, when golf is battling to survive without its leading light, and the threat of a labour stoppage looms over the National Football League, sports administrators could be forgiven for doing their best to damp expectations.
Not so Indian Premier League Commissioner & Chairman, Lalit Modi.
Less than a week before the Deccan Chargers start the defence of their trophy against the Kolkatta Knight Riders in the third IPL season, the most powerful figure in cricket has outlined his plan to make the tournament the most-watched sporting event on the planet. “Our objective is to be the single largest sporting league in the world, and we have an opportunity to get there,” Modi says.
Such ambitious talk is at odds with the air of quiet reservation traditionally associated with this quintessential English game.
But then Modi, 46 years old, has shaken cricket from top to bottom since he and his colleagues took control of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), the sport’s national governing body, in 2005.
Reorganising the sport along business lines, he negotiated record sponsorship and broadcast deals for the India national team. Three years later, he launched IPL: an enterprising league with deep pockets that has left the cricket establishment agog and has taken the commercialisation of sport to a new level. More here
