(Image source from: Instagram.com/lalitkmodi)

Former chairman of the Indian Premier League, Lalit Modi, stated that he violated broadcasting regulations during the tournament's inaugural match in 2008. The first IPL game featured Kolkata Knight Riders competing against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Modi expressed that he was prepared to "break every rule" due to the event's significance. He indicated that he was concerned about Sony Network's limited audience at the time and chose to disregard their exclusive broadcasting rights. Instead, he encouraged other broadcasters and news channels to simultaneously broadcast the match. "Everything relied on that one game. I disregarded all the rules that day. I had an exclusive agreement with Sony, but their reach was insufficient. I told them to open the signal. Now it was accessible everywhere, right? I instructed all the broadcasters and news channels that missed out to go live," Lalit shared with Michael Clarke on a recent podcast.

"Sony threatened to sue me. I responded, 'Sue me later, forget it? We’re going live now because you lack the reach.' I needed everyone to see the first game. If it had failed, I would have been done for." Earlier, Lalit Modi sparked another major controversy after he released a video showing Harbhajan Singh hitting S Sreesanth during IPL 2008. The incident, known as 'Slapgate,' generated significant attention at the time, but Harbhajan harshly criticized Lalit for bringing the video to light after so many years. "The way this video was released is wrong. It shouldn't have occurred. There might be a selfish reason behind it. What happened 18 years ago has been forgotten, and now they are reminding everyone of it," Harbhajan expressed to Instant Bollywood.