Cricket Ipl

ID#092301

PUBLISHED ON MARCH 20, 2009

THE JEROME CHAZEN CASE SERIES

The Launch of the Indian Premier League

BY RAJEEV KOHLI*

ABSTRACT

In September 2007 Lalit Modi was handed a $25 million check from the Board of Control for Cricket in India—formalizing Modi’s longawaited opportunity to launch a new cricket league. Modi’s challenge was to build a sustainable business model which would create the proper incentives to motivate players, broadcasters, franchise owners, and the various cricket boards to join his effort. And he had seven months to accomplish it all.

CONTENTS

Introduction........................................ 1 Lalit Modi............................................ 3 New Cricket Forms Evolve................ 5 Modi Partners with IMG ..................... 7 League Models to Consider .............. 9 IPL Concept Announced ................. 10 Competitive Landscape................... 11 2007 World Cup: A Time to Woo Players.............................................. 13 2007 World Cup: Seizing an Unexpected Opportunity ................. 14 Shaping the IPL Model .................... 15 India and the History of Cricket ...... 21 Snapshot of India’s Modernization. 22

* Professor of Marketing, Columbia Business School

Acknowledgements We thank Lalit Modi, Peter Griffiths, and Andrew Wildblood for their guidance and Radhika Moolraj and Sonali Chandler for their support. Alan Cordova, MBA’08, Atul Misra, EMBA’09, Valeriy Elbert, MBA’10, Jonathan Auerbach, and Nate Nickerson provided research and writing support.

Copyright information © 2009 by The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. All rights reserved. This case was prepared as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a business situation.

Introduction

On September 10, 2007, Lalit Modi stepped out of the office of Sharad Pawar, the chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), holding a...