These days, sports like football, baseball, basketball, and soccer are huge commercial ecosystems. In 2006, Nimbus Communications bought digital media rights for Indian cricket for $612 million in a four-year global deal, underscoring cricket’s status gain in the big-money world of sports marketing. Cricket, however, owes its commercial maturity to Jagmohan Dalmiya. Read ‘Cricket Reaches Commercial Maturity’ for more background.
SM: Let’s begin with some of your background in cricket. Where does your passion for cricket come from?
JD: I used to play when I was younger. I played at the university level as well as at the first division club level. I was pursuing my cricket career very seriously and didn’t focus too much on a business career. Unfortunately, I lost my father when I was 19. Since I had no siblings I had no choice but to take over the family business. As a result, I did not play cricket for the next three or four years.
When I came to the business world I really did not know what I was doing. I was fortunate that my father had left me a lot. I was able to afford losing some money while I learned the ins and outs of business. Ultimately, after three or four years in the business world, I knew I wanted to come back to cricket. I truly missed playing and knew I wanted to be involved with the sport somehow.
I joined the Rajasthan club in Calcutta. While I was playing on the weekends, I started pursuing an administrative role during the week. A lot of clubs in different cities had a few smaller administrative roles. I never imagined I would be an administrator of a small club, but there I was doing it! There were definitely challenges in that position. The parent body was the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), which is often called Bengal Cricket, and there was quite a bit of tension between them and our Rajasthan club. For various reason we felt the Rajasthan club was always given a raw deal. Because of that I decided to run for president of CAB.
SM: What year are we talking?
JD: This was in 1977. Then we had elections in 1978.
SM: They were CAB elections?
JD: Yes, and I won by a very comfortable margin. I became the treasurer in 1978. Back then the terms were four year terms, so I was there for four years as the president of CAB. After that I had to move out of office so I became the secretary for four years. I then became the vice president for four years. I just alternated offices, one after another without any breaks, so I could stay involved with the leadership of CAB. Eventually they changed the rules specifically so that I could serve as the president as long as I wanted. Ultimately I was there for 13 years consecutively.
Using the Bengal constituency, I ran in elections for the Board of Control for Cricket in India/Indian Cricket Control Board (BCCI). I became the treasurer in 1985. In 1991 I became the secretary, and I finally became the president in 2001. From there I used the BCCI as a platform to become the president of Asian Cricket Council, after which I then became the secretary of Asian Cricket Council. I was also president of the Afro-Asian Council. I eventually became the president of the International Cricket Council (ICC). That was historic because I was the first Indian to hold that position.
This segment is part 1 in the series : How Jagmohan Dalmiya Commercialized Cricket
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