The broadcaster monopoly has finally ended in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the TV and digital for the Indian subcontinent went to two different broadcasters. The Board of Control from Cricket in India (BCCI) will be generating a revenue of more than INR 45,000 crore from the sale of the broadcast rights for the 2023-2027 cycle.
As the IPL media rights auction concluded on the third day in Mumbai, it has emerged that Star India managed to retain the television rights for the Indian subcontinent (Package A) while Viacom18 bagged the digital rights (Package B), which have been sold for an unprecedented figure in the history of the Indian sports broadcasting.
ALSO READ: BCCI Increases The Pension Of The Former Cricketers By 100%
The bidding for Package C, a special package of non-exclusive matches (18 per season), and Package D (overseas TV and digital) will continue on Tuesday. Disney Star won Package A for INR 23,575 crore, on the other hand, Viacom18 will also be paying a hefty amount of INR 20,500 crore on Monday, according to news agency PTI.
The BCCI will manage to generate revenue of INR 44,075 crore for 410 matches between 2023 and 2027, from only the sale of the Indian subcontinent TV and digital rights. Notably, Star India had paid INR 16,347.5 crore for a composite bid for TV and digital rights in 2017 for the 2018-22 cycle.
The cost per match has now reached a different level as it is now standing at INR 107.5 crore, nearly twice the amount paid in the previous cycle. The bidding started with increments of INR 50 lakh during the initial period and once the winner of Package A challenged the highest bidder of Package ‘B’, the incremental bid value was worth INR 1 crore.
Notably, the BCCI did not allow composite bids for TV and digital, unlike in 2017. Star India had made a composite winning bid despite Facebook emerging as the highest bidder with INR 3,900 crore for digital rights for the 2018-22 cycle. Speaking to India Today on Monday, legendary Sunil Gavaskar conceded that he had not expected the media rights value to touch unprecedented levels as it has now.
ALSO READ: Graeme Smith Criticizes The Decision Of Holding Back Dinesh Karthik
However, it is the Indian sub-continent’s digital rights that stole the thunder, with INR 50 crore per game being offered by Viacom18 (with Uday Shankar and James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems) after Star as the winner of Package A challenged them. When the auctions stopped on Day 2, another INR 2000 crore was bid for Package C, which has a select non-exclusive digital rights deal. The auction, which has moved into Day 3, will resume with Package C on Tuesday, the report added.
The break-up of 410 matches across five years is as follows: 74 matches each for 2023 and 2024. It increases to 84 games in 2025 and 2026, and 94 matches in 2027. According to the regulations of the e-auction, the owners are given a secret code through which they bid. No BCCI office-bearers and employees have an inkling of the bidding companies’ code.
