‘Just swelled up clown-head’, Lalit Modi lashes at Sanjiv Goenka:IPL founder mocks LSG owner for downplaying his role in league’s surging value

Indian Premier League’s founder and first chairman, Lalit Modi, launched a fierce verbal attack on Sanjiv Goenka after Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) understated his contribution to the league’s exponential surge in valuation. The fiery remarks followed the celebratory post from Goenka, who commemorated the sale of two IPL franchises, viz Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, which accumulated almost five teams of IPL’s original value. Sanjiv Goenka upsets Lalit Modi with Jay Shah centred post Notably, RCB and RR’s franchise sales on Tuesday registered a combined $3.41 billion, nearly five times the $723.59 million paid by the league’s eight founding franchises in 2008. Lauding such transactions and growth, Goenka credited Jay Shah in his post on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “@rajasthanroyals, acquired for roughly ₹270 crore in 2008, have just been sold for over ₹15,000 crore. @RCBTweets, acquired for roughly ₹485 crore, sold for over ₹16,600 crore. Two franchises, same week, each over ₹15,000 crore. That value was built by the architecture of the IPL. The way broadcast and digital rights were structured. The governance that gave brands confidence to invest at premium levels. Much of this traces back to the vision of @JayShah.” However, it did not sit well with Lalit Modi, who conceptualised and then launched the IPL in 2008. He was the pioneer of the cash-rich league that it is today, and was its first chairman. Lalit Modi calls Sanjiv Goenka ‘clown’ and ‘swelled up head’ Sanjiv Goenka, not crediting Lalit Modi for his contribution, received a sharp response from the latter as he called the LSG owner a ‘clown’. He wrote down a blunt response on X, replying to Goenka’s celebratory post, ‘This guy really has a memory loss of who conceived the model. That’s ok. He just lives in his world. We all know he is a clown.’ However, LSG owner is yet to reply to strong-worded railing from Lalit Modi. In contrast, IPL’s first chairman piled up his criticism with another tweet. Lalit Modi mocks Lucknow Super Giants’ new logo Lalit Modi did not stop the ‘clown’ remark as he further mocked Lucknow Super Giants’ new ‘Gaj-Garuda’ theme logo, calling LSG’s designing team a bunch of ‘jokers’. Responding to a post from senior journalist Anand Vasu, who was confused over backlash regarding LSG’s new logo, Lalit Modi wrote on X: “It’s because a 🤡 who has no idea about anything decided to call it that @DrSanjivGoenka. What else can you expect from jokers” RCB and RR’s historic sale pointed to growing interest in IPL A consortium comprising Aditya Birla Group, Blackstone, Times of India Group and Bolt Ventures acquired RCB for $1.78 billion (approx 16,706 crore) after a weeks-long bidding war. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals was bought by a US-based Kal Somani-led consortium for USD 1.63 billion (approx ₹15,290 crore). Rajasthan’s new ownership group includes US-based entrepreneur Kal Somani, Walmart heir Rob Walton, who also owns NFL franchise the Denver Broncos, and the Ham family, Detroit Lions owners. Meanwhile, RCB has been acquired by the Aditya Birla Group and the Times Group alongside US-based firms Bolt Ventures and Blackstone. Bolt Ventures is led by prominent sports investor David Blitzer, whose portfolio spans from the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils to the Premier League’s Crystal Palace and MLS side Real Salt Lake.