The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is about to commence in a matter of two days. This edition is expected to be a bigger and a better affair than the first decade in the history of the tournament. Also, the worldwide reach of the upcoming season of is expected to be a record-breaking number. As per the recent reports, it has emerged that Doordarshan could potentially telecast the matches of the season as well.
If Star India (official broadcaster of IPL) make it happen, it will be a big news for many fans of cricket who do not have access to the mainstream television channels like Star Sports. According to Republic TV, not all matches of the IPL 2018 will be shown on the Doordarshan Network. However, the key matches, opening ceremony, and the closing ceremony will be broadcast on Doordarshan (DD).
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Considering the talk of the crucial matches, it can be the tournament opener, the playoffs games including the finals of the season. In all, there will be four playoffs matches – Qualifier 1, Eliminator, Qualifier 2, and the final. In the season opener, the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will be taking on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Furthermore, the reports suggested that the revenue distribution between the two parties Star India and Doordarshan would be a 50:50 basis revenue sharing. It is worth noting that Star India had bagged the television, the digital, the Indian and the Global media rights of the IPL for the next five editions of the tournament. They had paid a whopping ₹16347.5 crore to bag the rights. Until last season, these rights were held by the Sony Pictures Network.
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According to the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007 (and a 2012 notification), all private broadcasters are bound to share live broadcasting signals of sporting events of “national importance” with Prasar Bharati simultaneously, so that the public broadcaster to re-transmit them on its terrestrial networks and direct-to-home (DTH) networks.
