Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi says the league could be leaving money on the table by not sticking to the scheduling model that was originally sold to franchises. Modi claimed that the absence of a full home-and-away structure has reduced the number of matches, costing the ecosystem an estimated extra Rs 2,400 crore in revenue. His comments come as he also expressed satisfaction with the IPL’s rising market value after two franchises—Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR)—were sold for a combined price of roughly Rs 31,000 crore.
Modi argued that, from the beginning, each team was meant to face every other side twice in the league stage. With the tournament expanding to 10 teams in 2022, that plan would have produced a 90-match league phase, followed by four knockout contests. Instead, he said the IPL has continued with a total of 74 league matches by reshaping the home-and-away arrangement, which he believes has altered the financial math for both the board and the franchises.
In his view, the imbalance is tied to how revenue is split. “For every game, the BCCI gets 50 per cent, and the remaining 50 per cent is distributed to teams. Consequently, teams are now losing out on 20 games,” Modi said. He added that, given the fees franchises are paying, providing home-and-away fixtures is not optional but a contractual expectation. Modi further insisted that the league’s valuation story was not meant to be built on fewer matches than what was originally agreed.
He also pushed back on the rationale of squeezing more games into an already crowded calendar. “The home-and-away format is where the value lies. If there is no space in the calendar, do not increase the number of teams. It is as simple as that. That is not what we sold. Has everybody signed off on this? I guarantee they have not,” Modi said. He reiterated that while excuses may be offered, the obligation to play home and away remains part of the commercial understanding between the league and its franchises.
Modi said the reduction in fixtures has a direct bearing on how franchises and the league are valued. To illustrate the impact, he cited a scenario based on a full home-and-away schedule: if there were 94 matches, with each game valued at Rs 118 crore, the media rights would be worth an additional Rs 2,400 crore. He described this figure as extra revenue for the BCCI, arguing that it would also have flowed through to team valuations.
Breaking down the same estimate, Modi said that out of the additional Rs 2,400 crore, Rs 1,200 crore would have gone to the 10 teams—amounting to Rs 120 crore per franchise—effectively lifting the overall value of each side.
