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With 18 seasons and over 1100 matches, the Indian Premier League emerged as the biggest sports league in India and is among the most popular sports leagues in the world. The tournament kickstarted in 2008 under the vision of Lalit Modi, who is now the ex-Chairman of IPL. The inaugural season of the IPL was broadcasted on Sony Sports Network with Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders locking horns in the first-ever game of the tournament.
However, Lalit Modi was worried about the reach of Sony Sports at that time and wanted to make the first IPL game a hit. For that, he also instructed other broadcasters as well as the news channels to go live with the match. Modi also revealed that the Sony Sports Network also threatened to sue him for this but he was more worried about the success of the tournament.
If the first game had flopped, I was dead: Lalit Modi
In his recent podcast with former Australia captain Michael Clarke on Beyond23Cricket Podcast, Lalit Modi revealed the tactics he made to make the first-ever game of IPL a hit in 2008. He said that he wanted to ‘break every rule’ and opened the signal for everyone.
"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 Modi said.
"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 further added.
