IPL RIGHTS
It was big payday for the BCCI in the latest auction for broadcast rights © BCCI
Star India retained the TV rights while Viacom18 won the digital rights for the Indian Premier League’s 2023-27 cycle, BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced on Tuesday (June 14).
In a first of its kind e-auction conducted by the BCCI, Star’s winning bid was worth INR 23,575 crore whereas Viacom18 shelled out INR 23,758 crore to claim Packages B & C for digital rights exclusively. The auction also underlined India’s growing digital economy and the potential of its markets, with Viacom18’s bid fetching the IPL a higher sum than the winning bid for the TV rights.
“India has seen a digital revolution & the sector has endless potential,” Shah wrote in a tweet. “The digital landscape has changed the way cricket is watched. It has been a big factor in the growth of the game & the Digital India vision.”
The sum of INR 48390 crores is for 410 IPL games scheduled across five years, earning the BCCI roughly INR 118 crore per match, thus making IPL one of the richest leagues in the world.
“Since its inception, the IPL has been synonymous with growth & today is a red-letter day for India Cricket, with Brand IPL touching a new high with e-auction resulting in INR 48,390 cr value. IPL is now the 2nd most valued sporting league in the world in terms of per match value!” Shah further wrote.
For the first time, the BCCI had split the IPL’s TV and digital rights, offering the bidders four packages: (A) India sub-continent television, (B) India sub-continent digital, (C) India digital non-exclusive special package and (D) Rest of the world.
Media rights for Middle East and the USA have gone to Times Internet, of which Cricbuzz is a part.
The auction started at 11 AM on June 12 with Package A and B rolled out up front. The bidding commenced from the base price of INR 49 crore for the TV rights and INR 33 crore for the digital rights and the parties had up to 30 minutes between the bids. The bidders quoted a figure on a per-match basis, with the minimum bid increment (MBI) value been fixed at INR 50 lakh.
Source: Cricbuzz