It is not for nothing that Lalit Modi is often referred to as cricket czar. Even his enemies grant that if Jagmohan Dalmiya made cricket a saleable business venture, it was Modi who took it to incredible commercial heights. The stupendous success of the Indian Premier League (which, according to Modi, has become a $2 billion venture in merely three years), has awed even the best of marketers across the world.
It is a stark irony that outside the cricket pitch, the man?s only claim to fame has been clashes and crashes. ?He has been a royal failure in most businesses he has dabbled in, in the past,? says a former business head of one of the many broadcast ventures Modi launched before he took to the business of cricket.
Going by his trail of business ventures, it?s clear that sports and entertainment were his pet sectors. After his forced exit from the US, where he was embroiled in a drugs case, Modi got into father KK Modi?s business.
Modi Senior runs a $2 billion enterprise spread across textiles, tyres and tubes, chemicals and consumer goods, among others. But these businesses couldn?t hold young Lalit?s interest and soon, he set out on his own.
It was the early nineties and the cable and satellite broadcast business was gradually taking root in the country. Global broadcasters, even in the non-news genres, weren?t allowed a free entry. Modi was quick to seize the opportunity and Modi Entertainment Network (MEN) was born.
In 1993, MEN signed an ambitious joint venture with the US-based media conglomerate Walt Disney. WD India Pvt Ltd, the new company in which Walt Disney had 51% stake and MEN held the rest, was given the mandate to introduce Disney?s merchandise in the Indian market and to augment its programming on various existing television channels. The merchandise business was housed under Walt Disney Consumer Products and the broadcast venture was with Buena Vista TV India.
In 1995, Walt Disney also entrusted MEN with the responsibility of distributing its popular sports channel ESPN. ?Modi has always had an eye for lucrative opportunities. ESPN was one of the first channels in the country to go paid. He managed to convince ESPN that with cricket in their pocket, people will readily pay a fee to see the channel,? says a top executive of a public relations company involved in the deal. ESPN was soon one of the leading sports channels in the country.
Soon, MEN signed similar deals with Paris-based FTV, Dubai-based sports channel Ten Sports and DD Sports.
According to some former employees, by 2001-2, MEN?s revenues went up to around Rs 60-70 crore. But every business partnership that MEN entered into during this period ended in the courts. ESPN decided to part ways with MEN five years after its contract ended and they dragged their hitherto partner to court for not paying dues.
The deal with Walt Disney also ended on a sour note. Not happy with their progress in India, they decided to enter India on their own but MEN challenged the move and the case finally went into arbitration. A similar case for non-payment of dues filed by DD Sports is still in the courts.
Modi made another attempt, his last, at making a success of his broadcast business. In 2007, he came up with the idea of launching the country?s first local travel-and-living channel, Voyages.
Voyages was recently in the news with media reports saying that funds from some IPL deals were routed to the channel. ?The channel was probably set up to park some unaccounted funds,? says a senior industry professional close to the developments.
But the failed dealings are a thing of the past and Modi is said to lead an extravagant life. Reportedly, he owns a sea-facing bungalow in one of Mumbai?s posh localities. His love for luxury cars and the fact that he has a fleet of his own is well-known. But he has repeatedly maintained that his opulent lifestyle has little to do with cricket.