Perfecting the art of swinging deals

MUMBAI: A year after India was ousted at the World Cup Super Six stage in 1999, Harish Thawani won the bid for the International Cricket Council’s TV broadcast rights. He beat no less than the formidable News Corp to bag the much sought-after cricket property. Others might have gloated and tried to go it alone. Not Thawani. He approached Global Cricket Corp, a News Corp subsidiary, and offered it a partnership. Thawani knew that with News Corp’s financial backing and its broadcast expertise, he would be in a much better position to leverage the rights.

Over a luncheon meeting with Ian Fitburg, the then head of Sky Sports, Thawani sealed the deal. Thawani told Fitburg that he knew the Indian market and told News Corp that he could procure sponsorships for them. In return, News Corp would get cricket telecast rights, which would translate into viewership and, of course, big money.

That’s quintessential Harish Thawani: bid aggressively to pick up mega-viewership properties like cricket rights and then use your deal-making acumen to hawk them on beneficial terms to viewership-hungry broadcast channels. And after winning BCCI’s global media rights recently, he is once again the guy on the poker table with all the chips on his side. Using a lot of guts and a bit of luck, he has built a Rs 1,000-crore company in 19 years.