How Lalit Modi’s coin toss once undid Zee’s billion-dollar cricket dream

New Delhi: Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has claimed that a double-headed coin from his son’s magic kit altered the course of Indian cricket’s media rights auction, he said in the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.

Modi recalled how the unusual coin toss overturned Zee chairman Subhash Chandra’s late-night request for an advantage and ultimately saw Nimbus outbid Zee's $550 million offer with a $660 million bid.

Events took an unusual turn on the eve of the rights auction. At around 2:30 am, Zee chairman Subhash Chandra reportedly arrived at Modi’s home, accompanied by a union minister. Modi said Chandra was determined that Zee should win the rights at any cost. Chandra allegedly handed Modi three envelopes, each marked with one, two, or three dots, containing different financial offers.

Modi said Chandra also asked him to ensure that Zee’s bid would be opened last. With Zee’s name beginning with “Z,” it would have provided the broadcaster a natural advantage in an alphabetical opening order.

Turning to his son’s magic double-headed coin, Modi said he was faced with a dilemma. He wanted to avoid granting Zee an unfair advantage but needed a transparent method to determine the order. At that point, his son handed him a toy from his magic kit: a coin with two heads.

On the day of the auction, Modi reportedly brought the coin into the room and told all participants that the order of opening bids, whether from A to Z or Z to A, would be decided by a coin toss. “The toss, which was bound to land on ‘heads,’ gave the invited executive the chance to choose,” Modi said. The choice was made for Z to A, reversing the sequence and preventing Zee from being the last bidder.

 When the envelopes were finally opened, Zee’s highest bid stood at approximately $550 million. Nimbus, however, topped it with a bid of about $660 million. The outcome awarded Nimbus the rights, shutting Zee out despite its multi-envelope strategy.

Modi said this marked a crucial turning point for Indian cricket. “The higher deal value set new financial benchmarks in Indian cricket’s broadcasting market and paved the way for the growth of commercial rights that later helped shape the Indian Premier League,” he added.