February 6, sunny Goa and the IPL auction jamboree. Industrialists, starlets, BCCI power brokers, wheeler dealers operating on cricket’s fringes, movers and shakers, a panting media hanging onto every dollar transacted as the gavel came down; the Taj Holiday Village and Fort Aguada was the cynosure. Gangbuster prices were forked out as the fat cats opened their cheque books with great gusto. And then it got roiled. Slowly and steadily, the seams began to come apart. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi got embroiled in the Rajasthan Cricket Association joust and the IPL’s travails began in earnest. Somehow the spotlight has not come off the IPL since February 6. One thing has led to another. All bad and negative.
Fleetingly one heard of Reliance Big TV’s animus against Sony or MSM or whatever they call themselves now over an exclusivity clause in their on ground sponsorship contract worth Rs 1.37 billion. In fact, at SportzPower we were the first to report about the complications over the contract because Sony had brought in Reliance Big’s arch rival Airtel as the on air sponsor. Then it began to skedaddle. Almost overnight, the domino theory came into play. The push coming from the sleeper Reliance Big TV battle with Sony which exploded in everyone’s face. So much so that Kunal Dasgupta who was walking around like a prizefighter at the FICCI Frames event in Mumbai’s Powai area abruptly lost his job.
Then it got ugly. Modi went ahead and declared the dates and venues, but once the Election Commission put out its own dates, it was confusion confounded. Sponsorship contracts gave way to political slugfests.
I am very clear in my mind over the polarisation over cricket between BJP and Congress ruled states that also came out of this same subterranean battle. A battle for control. Lalit Modi’s biggest benefactor is Sharad Pawar. And Pawar was right in the crosshairs of the ruling party establishment in the Rajdhani. Remember that the Congress and NCP, which Pawar heads, are alliance partners in Maharashtra (my last column) and the game of brinkmanship in seat bargaining had just begun. Pawar had to be shown his place by the Congress and as both sides postured, the chasm got wider. A subliminal message was being sent to Pawar. Stop airing your prime ministerial ambitions and come to heel. Meanwhile, media played its part, speculating intensely and sometimes even wildly. As Anurag Thakur (Himachal Pradesh and chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s son), Narender Modi, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Raman Singh came forward to bail out the beleaguered league, the Congress ruled states adopted a hardline stance led by Delhi and AP. Maharashtra, which has a coalition in power, was a bundle of contradictions.
It was an unhappy turn of events. The league was being hindered. I am as aware as the next Indian about security and safety. I don’t want any untoward incident in my country. But like so many of my ilk I feel safe in my own country. I have walked the streets of Johannesburg, but never alone after dark. Do I feel the same way at home? No way. Cricket is being impeded by politics. So, even as these negotiations were ongoing, the biggest and most crippling blow came from the most unlikely of sources. The dominos began to fall.
The BCCI issued a termination notice last weekend to Sony-MSM triggering off the broadcast crisis. Even as the league’s very existence was under threat, the telecast rights were once again up for grabs. Midnight injunctions and sales to subsidiaries of existing holders of the broadcast rights created fresh controversies and new court cases. The reality is that Reliance Big TV had a composite deal – on ground plus associated rights. And because it felt that those rights had been violated, it pulled the plug on Sony.
Grieving over the loss of the Rs 1.37 billion deal, IPL struck back at Sony and sought to terminate the deal. Legalese and more drama followed. Finally an out of court settlement, but no deal. Why? Because Sony wanted a non-terminable contract. Then came white knight NDTV. Sauntering in with Astro, then PE fund Providence Capital and even ESPN Star Sports, it played at the edges. Last time too, NDTV had pulled out its bid at the last moment. Was this Modi’s wildcard? Use the breach of specific clauses to bulldoze Sony and get a new broadcast partner who pays more. This way you offset the losses that season 2 is going to face? Logic says yes.
I am not for a moment underestimating the clout of Reliance ADAG which owns Big TV. Of course, satraps at ADAG are dismissive of my conspiracy theory. But the timing of my domino theory is uncanny.
Stories have abounded about Reliance Big aborting the deal because it was financially stretched. That it had too many ICC commitments this year, given that Reliance Mobile is the official ICC sponsor. But you reckon that ADAG can’t cough up Rs 1.37 billion more? Bah, that I cannot believe. What I can believe is that ADAG drives a hard bargain and it was upset and angry over Airtel entering the IPL equation and decided to pull the plug on Sony. Which had IPL’s knickers in a twist. Ergo problems for Sony as a telecast partner.
It is a pity that India’s domestic league – IPL – as Lalit Modi himself has articulated to SportzPower, has had to shift out of this country. That is the biggest travesty. The wheeling, dealing, powerbroking is all very well, but it is the game which is the casualty. India’s league is no longer going to be played in India because the government of India is not willing to guarantee its safety and security.
Next year, India plays host to the hockey World Cup, followed by the Commonwealth Games. In 2011, we play host to the cricket World Cup. Will India be safe then? Hope politicos haven’t got it wrong because of personal enimities and because they felt that cricket’s great carnival clashing with electioneering and polling will hamper their prospects at the hustings.
If everyone ends up watching cricket for 44 days non stop, nobody will attend the rallies or come out to vote could be a warped thinking. But the people who watch and follow cricket don’t necessarily attend rallies and vote. Worse still, if everyone forks out big bucks on cricket, then what will they dole out towards election funding? Remember, we are also in the middle of a serious meltdown.
As I write this, the BJP has begun firing salvos at the Congress. Must say, the BCCI has a lot of gumption. It has taken on the government and decided to stage the tournament abroad. I wonder if the same thing would have happened if a Congressman had been its president.
Finally, if the BCCI is willing to take the tournament abroad, then it could well have opted for a shorter format and attempted to stage it domestically. This rigidity on both sides has cost cricket lovers. The entire city based franchise model going intoi a tailspin. Why did the IPL work despite Cassandras, including myself, carping that it would’t?
Primarily because it fashioned a new style of sub tribal loyalty. Cricket has worked because it is a metaphor for nationalism, but more importantly, it is entertainment for the masses. Brendon McCullum jumpstarted last year’s edition with one of the most audacious displays of power hitting and this put the show on the road. What the hell, it has all come unstuck. Pity!
