Last Updated on 4 years ago by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: IPL Media Rights Auction analysis: 5 key takeaways from US$6 billion deal | Analysis: 5 key takeaways from the IPL 2023-27 Media Rights Auction
The intensely-conducted media rights auction for the Indian Premier League (IPL) concluded with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) attracting revenue worth Rs 48,390 crore (approx. US$6.2 billion) for the five-year cycle beginning from 2023.
The IPL has thus become the second-most valuable sporting league in the world in terms of its per match value. It has overtaken the English Premier League (EPL) and is only behind the National Football League (NFL) in these standings currently.
Moreover, the sum raked in through this latest round of auction is close to three times more than what the BCCI got for the media rights sales (Rs 16,347.50 crore) for the previous term from 2017-2022.
The e-auctions witnessed participation from some of the biggest broadcasting behemoths in the field. In this article, Cricblog takes a look at five of the biggest takeaways from these much-anticipated sales.
IPL media rights auction analysis: 5 key takeaways
1. Star India Retains Its TV Stronghold
Star India fended off competition from the Reliance-backed Viacom18 and Sony to extend its hold over the TV broadcasting rights for the coming five years. Many expected the former to cede ground to the emerging players but they managed to bag the bragging title by bidding a total of Rs 23,575 crore for 410 games. It amounts to payments worth Rs 57.40 crore per game and allows Star to sustain its sway over the considerable audience that consumes the IPL games via the traditional TV medium.
2. Viacom18 Sparks New Digital Revolution?
Viacom18 entered this contest as a formidable player and went on to win the digital-only broadcasting rights for the India subcontinent region for Rs 20,500 crore for 410 games. It boils down to a sum of Rs 50 crore per game. Viacom18 had emerged as the highest bidder with Rs 48 crore for each match.
But Star India reportedly matched their bid and the Reliance-backed entity raised its proposal to the aforementioned victorious amount eventually. Viacom18’s bid has clear indications of the way tides are turning in the sports broadcasting spectrum. They seem to have bet big on India’s ever-expanding digital presence and look to go toe-to-toe with Star’s legacy of TV broadcasts of the IPL game.
3. Uday Shankar Accomplished Consolidated Digital Rights For Reliance?
The fact that Reliance roped in Uday Shankar and James Murdoch, both dignified former Disney executives, just prior to the media rights auctions signalled that Viacom18 would be a significant player in this process.
But rather than outbidding Star for the TV rights, they instead doubled down on the digital rights front. In addition to securing the Package B, they even won over Package C that concerned around the non-exclusive digital broadcasting rights for a special package of 18 games for the given five-year period.
With a total of Rs 3,258 crore, they are putting in a sum of Rs 33.24 crore per game for this limited set of matches. In total, with Packages B and C, Viacom18 has nearly matched the sum that Star paid only for Package A. It tells you that putting in the money wasn’t arguably an issue for the Reliance-backed entity. Instead, they perhaps wanted to concentrate more on the all-encompassing digital rights so that it can intertwiningly play a vital role in the conglomerate’s growth in the telecommunications sector with Jio.
4. Times Internet Enters The Overseas Market Fray
Times Internet has interestingly entered the international market sector by winning Package D related to the Overseas TV and Digital Rights along with Viacom18. They put up a victorious bid of Rs 1324 crore for this deal wherein Times Internet will be catering to the MENA and the US sectors. Viacom18 will provide its services in Australia, South Africa and the British territories.
Times Internet will be carrying out the broadcasts through its Cricbuzz platform, which is one of the arguably few cricket websites to have made a seamless transition to video and now the broadcasting format. This particular deal signified the entrance of emerging market players in the big game of IPL media rights and could pave the way for more entities to get involved in this exercise in the coming future.
5. BCCI Is Again Setting Benchmarks For The World To Follow
The BCCI is taking the numbers game of the IPL to a whole new level through this latest e-auction. The brand value of the league is compounding regularly and ultimately it is Indian cricket and incredible talents from all across the world who are benefitting out of it. Through its advantageous influence of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the BCCI has arguably managed to create a league that has grabbed the viewer’s attention from all across the world.
It has grown exponentially over the last 15 years but will only get better and bigger in the future. The BCCI has shown terrific professionalism in taking the league to this level and is only looking to double down on its efforts to make it even more enthralling and attractive going ahead. Even the entirely transparent and fair process through which the e-auctions were conducted have set a standard benchmark for similar processes to follow further from here.
Long live the IPL!
