The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has published the much-awaited media rights tender for the Indian Premier League seasons between 2023-and 2027. The BCCI shared the notification on March 29.
The notification shared says, “Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announces the release of Invitation to Tender for Media Rights to the Indian Premier League Seasons 2023-2027”. It is the first time since the beginning of the IPL that there will be an e-auction to determine who owns the tournament’s media rights.
“With two new teams, more matches, more engagement, more venues, we are looking to take #TataIPL to newer and greater heights, I’ve no doubts that with this process there will not only be revenue maximization but also value maximization, which will benefit India Cricket immensely,” tweeted Jay Shah, Secretary, BCCI in excitement about the issuing of the new tender. He also shared that the e-auction will commence on June 12, 2022.
Who holds the current media rights for IPL?
Star India currently holds the five-year rights deal from 2018 to 2022, and the agreement is now in its last year. The company paid over 16,000 crores for the deal. Disney+Hotstar is the OTT platform that presently holds the digital rights for IPL.
Big names in the fray for IPL Media rights
Several eminent names are being touted for the rights. These names include e-commerce giant Amazon, Reliance Viacom 18, Youtube, Zee-Sony, and Star-Disney India does not want to lose the exclusivity IPL provides.
How rich is this deal going to make the BCCI?
To begin with, the Indian board has set a combined base price of 33,000 Crore for the media rights of the IPL. It is already twice the price of the last made deal in 2018 with Star, which was 16,000 Crore.
The board has divided the tender into four bundles which include clusters:
- TV Rights (Bundle A)
- Digital Rights (Bundle B)
- A particular non-exclusive category includes the opening match, four play-offs, and the night games of the doubleheaders. However, this bundle is only exclusively available for OTT platforms. (Bundle C)
- Rest of the World TV and Digital (Bundle D)
According to the information available, the main flow of revenue will be from Television as it provides 80% of the payment due to advertisements and more viewership. However, the rest 20 is in favour of others, and the OTT platform will keep increasing with more digitization.
Also, a non-refundable deposit of 25 lakh, including GST of 4,50,00 lakh, needs to be made before participating in the bidding process. The terms and conditions are mentioned on the ‘Invitation to Tender’ (ITT).
Some experts speculate that this deal alone can fetch the board around Rs 50,000 Crore, a record deal.
(Edited by Garvit Bhirani)
