IPL – The world’s richest cricket league has just got a lot richer. The IPL media rights auction got net a potential INR 48,390.5 crore in the next five years, making the league among the Richest in the world of sports.
Disney Star has retain the TV rights in the subcontinent for INR 23,575 crore and Viacom 18 secure the digital rights in the same region and media rights (both TV and digital) across three global regions, Australia + New Zealand, the UK and South Africa for INR 23,758 crore.
BREAKING NEWS : IPL Media Rights : BCCI welcome StarSports, Viacom18 and Times Internet in IPL Board@BCCI @IPL @StarSportsIndia @viacom18 @TimesInternet#2YoDoINDIA #IPLMediaRights #BCCI #IPL #Viacom18 #StarSports #TimesInternet pic.twitter.com/yOJEvDNLL6
— 2YoDoINDIA (@2yodoindia) June 14, 2022
Media rights for two other global regions, the Middle East INR 205 crore and the USA for INR 258 crore go to Times Internet.
Disney Star will pay INR 57.5 crore per match and Viacom 18, who won the subcontinental digital rights for all matches at Rs 50 crore a match, and then commit another INR 33.24 crore per match for a non-exclusive package of high-profile games (ranging between 18 and 22 matches), will effectively end up paying just over INR 58 crore per match.
After all this the IPL is now behind only the NFL in per-match value.
The overall deal for the 2023-27 cycle is 2.96 times or 196% higher than the previous IPL rights deal (2018-22) of INR 16,347.5 crore.
The previous cycle comprise of 60 matches per season for five years.
For the new five-year cycle the IPL has list a varying number of matches per season ranging from 74 games each in 2023 and ’24, 84 matches each in 2025 and ’26, and a maximum of 94 matches for the final year of the deal in 2027.
IPL Media Rights were sold across four categories :
- (A) Package A (TV rights in the Indian subcontinent),
- (B) Package B (digital rights in the subcontinent),
- (C) Package C (digital rights in India to a special package of high-profile games – including the playoffs and the final, ranging between 18 and 22 per season),
- (D) Package D (global media rights across five separate regions).
This is the second time the BCCI use an e-auction to sell rights, having introduce it for the first time in 2018 for the sale of India’s bilateral cricket rights.
Back then Star India had bag the global media rights for Indian cricket in a five-year deal (2018-23) worth INR 6,138 crore.
The average cost per match was about INR 60 crore, which is nearly half that of the IPL’s per-match value in this cycle.
BREAKING NEWS : Star India wins IPL TV rights, Viacom 18 bags digital deal, confirms BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
— 2YoDoINDIA (@2yodoindia) June 14, 2022
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Digital Rights have Exceed the value of TV Rights
In this year rights cycle, digital rights have exceed the value of TV rights and have the biggest driver of growth in the value of the IPL rights.
The winning bid for the digital rights in the subcontinent alone was 13% higher than the overall bid Star India had made to win the global consolidated rights [TV and digital] in 2017.
The importance and the rapid rise of the digital in the Indian market can be gauged from the fact that in 2017, the highest bid for the digital rights was INR 3900 crore, by Facebook.
But despite that high bid, Star had got Facebook to the digital rights with its consolidated offer.
The highest bid for the TV rights in the subcontinent was 17.3% higher than the per-match base price of INR 49 crore the IPL had set for it.
The corresponding number for digital rights in the region saw a massive jump of 51.5% higher than the per-match base price of INR 33 crore.
In Package C the digital rights in India to select high-profile games, escalate from a base price of INR 16 crore per match to INR 33.24 crore, a rise of nearly 108%.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah said the trends reflect the transition to digital viewership.
“There were approximately 560 million digital viewers in 2017 and 665 million in 2021. You expect it to grow even more in the coming years,” he told PTI. “By 2024, there will be 900 million internet users in India. Obviously linear viewership (TV) will remain but there is a transition towards digital viewership and that’s how you realise the value.”
Rebecca Campbell, chairman international content and operations at the Walt Disney Company, Said of Disney Star’s focus on television rights over digital :
“We made disciplined bids with a focus on long-term value. And we chose not to proceed with the digital rights given the price required to secure that package.
“We will be exploring other multiplatform cricket rights, including future rights for ICC and BCCI, which we currently hold through the 2023 and 2024 seasons respectively.”
IPL Value Jumps 3x to ₹48,000 Crore
Mukesh Ambani is going all-in on his bid to grab the 600 million viewers that the IPL attracts every year, shelling out a whopping ₹23,750 crore.
In addition to the primary package for streaming the Indian Premier League, Mukesh Ambani’s Viacom18 will also get Package C, which includes rights for 98 games for the next cycle of 2023-27 in the non-exclusive digital category.
Package C alone costs ₹3,250 crore per match cost is ₹33 crore, double the price that BCCI had ask for, which is ₹16 crore.
The winner of the television rights, Disney Star will be paying ₹23,575 crore for all games.
| Package | Rights | Price | Winner |
| A | TV rights – all matches | ₹23,575 crore | Disney Star |
| B | Digital streaming rights – all matches | ₹20,500 crore | Viacom18 |
| C | Digital streaming rights – 18 matches | ₹3,250 crore | Viacom18 |
| D | Rest of the world | ₹1,058 crore | Viacom18 and Times Internet |
Why did Viacom18 Buy Two and a Half Packages?
As per media reports, Mukesh Ambani face tough competition from Disney but Viacom18 had its eyes on the digital.
If a different media conglomerate would have bag package C, they would have buying the rights to air 18 matches for free.
In such a scenario would have hurt Viacom18 as it had already agree to pay around ₹50 crore to stream a single game.
Package D, being the last one on offer, was grab by Times Internet in partnership with Viacom18, at a total price of ₹1,058 crore.
And Viacom18 bag the broadcasting and streaming rights for Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom, and Times Internet grab rights for the US and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
IPL to have ‘Two and A Half Month Window’ from next ICC FTP : Jay Shah
This blockbuster IPL media rights deal will be follow by a bigger window for the IPL from the next ICC FTP calendar, likely starting with the 2024 edition of the tournament, Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary said.
Confirming the chatter about the IPL being an 84- or even a 94-match competition in the near future, Jay Shah said in an interview to PTI :
“That is an aspect we have worked upon. Let me inform you that from the next ICC FTP calendar, IPL will have an official two-and-a-half month window so that all the top international cricketers can participate. We have had discussions with various boards as well as the ICC.”
The current ICC FTP, running from 2018 to 2023, ends with the men’s 50-over World Cup, to be play in India in October-November 2023.
It was earlier meant to be play in the first half of the year but had to be defer to accommodate the many bilateral series and tournaments push back because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
There are many options on the table for the BCCI when it comes to expanding the length – and therefore value of the IPL, including organising it in two phases every year.
Jay Shah Said :
“We are having discussions with various stake-holders,”
“There are also multiple proposals for all the IPL franchises of playing friendlies overseas. That idea is being seriously contemplated but for that we also need to speak to other boards as we would need to know the schedule of international players.”
“In future, you will have a scenario, where the Indian Test team will be playing a series in one country and the white-ball team will be engaged in a series in a different country”
The biggest concern, if the IPL were to take more days every year, is how the international calendar, which is already pack, will be affect. Jay Shah said that the BCCI remain “committed” to international cricket.
Jay Shah Said :
“Indian cricket will remain strong as long as world cricket remains strong – let me assure you of this,”.
“The BCCI is committed to international cricket. And it’s not just about India versus Australia or India versus England marquee series, we are committed to playing even the smaller nations.
“All bilateral international commitments across all formats will be honoured. We are playing Ireland in two T20 Internationals this month only. We want a strong robust international circuit and want to help the smaller cricketing nations by playing against them.”
It mean a huge workload for India’s premier cricketers, especially the ones that play all formats.
The BCCI is trying to figure out a way around the problem, according to Jay Shah, but it could well mean more than one Indian team being engage in bilateral exchanges at the same time in different parts of the world.
Jay Shah Said :
“I have had discussions with NCA [National Cricket Academy] head VVS Laxman and we will always have 50 players in our roster,”.
“In future, you will have a scenario, where the Indian Test team will be playing a series in one country and the white-ball team will be engaged in a series in a different country.
“We are going in that direction where we will have two national teams ready at the same time.”
Disney Star Reveals why it chose not to buy Digital Rights
After securing the exclusive television rights package for the 2023-2027 Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket seasons, Disney Star has said that the company made discipline bids with a focus on long-term value and that they didn’t retain the digital rights due to very high price.
Disney Star retaine TV rights (Package A) for Rs 23,575 crore while Viacom18 bag the digital rights for Rs 23,758 cr (Package B & C).
Rebecca Campbell, Chairman, International Content and Operations, Walt Disney Company said in a statement :
“We made disciplined bids with a focus on long-term value. And we chose not to proceed with the digital rights given the price required to secure that package. IPL is an important component of our portfolio of television channels in India, providing an incredible opportunity for us to showcase The Walt Disney Company’s powerful global brands and iconic storytelling, as well as Disney Star’s impressive collection of local original content, to millions of viewers in India,” .
“We are pleased to extend our association with the Indian Premier League and look forward to offering the next five seasons across our portfolio of television channels. We will be exploring other multiplatform cricket rights, including future rights for International Cricket Council (ICC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which we currently hold through the 2023 and 2024 seasons, respectively,”.
“Additionally, we hold Pro Kabaddi League rights, Indian Super League football rights, as well as various international sports rights, including the Wimbledon Championships and the English Premier League. At the same time, we are focused on growing our robust slate of original entertainment content for Disney+ Hotstar and our television channels in the region,” .
“Our vast portfolio of more than 70 television channels in India cuts across general entertainment, films, sports, infotainment, kids, and lifestyle content, reaching 90% of pay cable and satellite TV homes in the region,”.
ZEE Congratulates BCCI for ‘Transparent’ E-Auction Process
After the end of e-auction, Rahul Johri, president, Business – ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd laud the Indian cricket board (BCCI) “for running an extremely efficient and transparent e-auction process” of the IPL media rights.
As ZEE was one of the participants in the e-auction.
Rahul Johri Said :
“ZEE would like to congratulate the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for running an extremely efficient and transparent e-auction process. We are grateful to the BCCI, President, Mr Sourav Ganguly, Hon’ble Secretary, Mr Jay Shah and Hon’ble Treasurer, Mr Arun Dhumal; for their able leadership and unwavering support in enabling ZEE’s participation in the IPL Media Rights tender process,” .
“At ZEE, we evaluate all business decisions through the prism of value creation for all our stakeholders and we will continue to evaluate every sports property with the same prism,”.
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