This is a very different topic from the ones we usually do but this is such a trending and game changing event that's about to ha happen and the fact that it will start from tomorrow 12th June from 11 am so let’s preview what might happen and how many crores will the IPL be able to get through the different rights this time around.
The IPL Media Rights has become the talking point of the cricketing and the business world ever since they were announced in April. The last IPL media rights were sold for 2018-2022 and Star India purchased those rights for a whopping 16,000+ crores with Sony India coming in second at 11,500 crores and that was a lot of money at that point. This time the amount of the collective Media Rights will start at 32,980 crores in 4 Packages. These include -
1. TV Rights for the Indian subcontinent Market and this bracket has a base price of 49 Crores per match.
2. Second is the Digital only package rights only for the Indian subcontinent region and the base price for these rights start from 33 crores per match.
3. Group C is the non exclusive package which will comprise of the special matches which will include the Final of the 5 years, the playoff Matches, The tournament opener and the weekend matches of some weekends. The base price for this package is 11 crores per match and this will include 18 matches in a 84 match season and as the Matches increase to 84 and 94 the matches in this package will increase as well.
4. The D Package is for the Rest of the World rights where the bidder can bid for 2 rights or five separate regions around the world and the base price for this package of 3 crores per match. These include TV and digital rights.
The BCCI is expecting the most money from the first 3 packages and Package C is where there will be the most competition and anybody can win that package. In the first package which is the exclusive TV Rights package in India There are only a few players who can realistically win the auction. And for the Digital rights in Package B for the whole league and Package C there will be more competition and for Package D only a few players are there. So let’s talk about all the players and what packages they can win.
Star India (Packages A,B and C)
They are the current holders of the TV rights and they would want to keep those TV Rights because they would want to get a strangle hold of the Indian consumer who watches IPL the most so they will bid aggressively for Package A. Their OTT platform Disney plus hotstar is a crucial revenue generator for them and IPL has a big role to play in that in the Indian market so they would also want to get the digital rights in Package B.
Sony India (Package A)
Sony India were the rights holders for the first 20 years of the league and they would want back the IPL TV rights in Package A and get back the Indian market as they have no Indian cricket on their channels so they will also aggressively bid for Package A.
Zee India (Package B and C)
This is an interesting player because the merger of Sony and Zee has been announced but it will formalize in September so they will enter this rights auction separately but they must have discussed their strategy. This Zee India will only go for Packages B and C in these rights because they want everything for themselves. Sony to get the TV rights and Zee to get the digital rights. Zee will bid aggressively for Package B and might as well for Package C.
Viacom 18 India (Package A,B and C)
This is the wild card of the auction and could easily take it all. They have the magic man Uday Shankar with them who won the rights deal for Star back in 2017. Viacom 18 will bid aggressively for the TV rights for India as they have extensive plans to launch upto 10 different sports channels which will show the IPL. They already have the FIFA World Cup 2022 TV rights for India. Their OTT platform Voot will also benefit greatly of they get the digital rights in Package B so they will compete with Star and Zee in this package as well.
SuperSport (Package D)
The SuperSport from South Africa will bid for Package D which is the TV and digital rights fir the rest of the world outside of the Indian sub continent and they would be looking to increase their fourfold. However they might not be the only ones in this Race.
Times Internet (Package D)
They will also bid for Package D which is the global rights and they will compete with SuperSport in this race and they also own Cricbuzz the popular platform so the app can also gain a foothold more If Times Internet win the global rights.
FunAsia Network (Package D)
This is a network that operates in North America so they will also compete for Package D in these IPL media rights and they will look to outsmart their competitors and win the global TV and digital rights and gain more of a foothold in the North America market.
How much can these rights go for collectively?
Just yesterday it was announced that Amazon will not take part in the rights race tomorrow so that has dampened some spirits but the BCCI is still expecting a big number as the total amount of the 4 packages could go upwards of 50,000 crores or more than $7.5 billion and these only include the rights for 74 matches as an aggregate for the 5 seasons but in actuality the 2025 season will have 84 Matches and the 2026 and 27 seasons will have 94 Matches so the winner of these rights will pay the BCCI that extra money when the time comes. So, it will be a win win for the BCCI and the Indian market as a whole. The next 2 days will be very interesting and there is no hope that the eyes of the world will be on these IPL media rights E- Auction starting tomorrow at 11 am.
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