Rahul Johri was put in the hot seat when he was named as the first-ever CEO of Board of Control for Cricket in India at a time when the functioning of the board was under the Supreme Court’s scrutiny.
But in his time at the helm, he says that the BCCI has made more money than ever, despite the turbulence which was caused with the SC-appointed Committee of Administrators overseeing the functioning.
In an interview with exchange4media.com, Johri spoke about BCCI’s lucrative period, the Indian Premier League media auction, the relationship with the COA and state associations, and more.
But one of the biggest takeaways from the chat was the recent financial growth of BCCI. Johri said that the Indian body has made more this year than it has ever before and expects this number to rise further. This period coincides with a lengthy home season for India and success in the ICC rankings.
“If you look at it today, the total amount of money that we have already signed up this year is more than what BCCI has done in its entire history. If you see my term, this has been the most turbulent phase for the BCCI but this also going to be the most lucrative phase of the BCCI because the amount of money that is going to flow through the BCCI into cricket in the next five years is more than what the BCCI has made in its entire history,” Johri said.
He also explained his role in the larger scheme of things, given that this is the first time BCCI has a corporate officer at this level.
“The way the BCCI functions is that there is a Board and there are multiple committees, so for every major compartment and for every major category of decision making, there is a committee.... The CEO is a link between everybody,” Johri told Exchange4Media.
“The outside world only looks at it from the international cricket men’s team. That is only one part. We do 1000 domestic games in our six month calendar whether it is Ranji trophy, Duleep Trophy, CK Nayudu, Under-19, Under-23, Under-16, so all of that is organised by this office. At one point when the operation was small, it was a different time altogether, but today Indian cricket is one of the biggest sports bodies in the world and to run that, a level of professionalism has to happen and that is what we are doing,” he elaborated.
The BCCI CEO also explained relationship between the office bearers, the associations, and the Supreme Court.
“There is the Lodha Committee report, the Supreme Court of India has ruled on that and given a constitution. That constitution has to be adopted by the BCCI. However, the BCCI is registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Act, for a new constitution to be adopted it has to be voted by 75% of the members, that has not happened at this point in time, because of which the Honourable Supreme Court appointed a committee of administrators. So today, the office bearers, the CEO work under the supervision of the Supreme Court appointed committee of administrators,” he was quoted as swaying.
Calling the IPL media auction a testimony to Indian cricket, Johri spoke about the massive bid in detail. Star India bags global IPL media rights for an astronomical Rs 16,347.50 crore for a period of five years in September.
“I have been a television executive in my earlier avatar and all our schedules would go haywire. If you look at the television industry, everyone starts advertising for their shows immediately after the IPL, because they need to remind their viewers. That is how disruptive the IPL is and the same goes with digital. Which is the digital property that people watch on their phones, it is the IPL. That is why I do not hesitate in saying that the BCCI is the biggest media company in the country,” Johri asserted.
He also said that he was not surprised by the amount of money involved because the body knows the brand value of the T20 league.
“There is nothing to be surprised of because we were confident that the property and the value of the property would deliver the best bid. Sony came with a TV strategy, Facebook came with a digital strategy and Star came with a global strategy. Everybody had a different strategy over there and that is what was playing out over there,” he said.
