IPL Media Rights Auction: Battle To Set Out Over Rights

BCCI has already divulged An Invitation-To-Tender (ITT) for the sale of IPL media rights 2023-27 broadcast cycle. All the biggies namely TV18-Viacom – TV18-Viacom, Disney, Sony, Zee, Amazon, and other names have bought the documents. May 10 is the deadline for the companies to buy the ITT. As per reports, American tech giant Apple is also exhibiting interest in IPL media rights and is anticipated to buy the ITT by next week. As the competition for IPL media rights heats up, Billionaires Jeff Bezos and Mukesh Ambani, who have been competing in India for years, are about to battle again over rights to the country’s cricket tournament. 

10 May will be the last day for the firms to buy the ITT which, in turn, will take a month for the BCCI to evaluate the tender documents. The IPL media Rights will be sold through an e-auction which is soon going to be held in the 2nd week of June. The Indian Cricket Board is expected to churn out revenue of 7.2 billion USD via a deal. 

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The BCCI is expected to earn nearly three times as much as it did when the IPL media rights for the 2018-22 season were sold. BCCI Secretary Jay Shah said: “Transparency will be the key and the revenues coming from sale or rights will be directed to India’s domestic structure, better infrastructure, and welfare of the cricketing fraternity.”

Four Separate Buckets

This time, the BCCI encased the IPL media rights deal into four separate buckets. The buckets are classified as – A) ‘Television rights for India subcontinent’, B) ‘Digital rights’ C) ‘A cluster of 18 matches (season opener, four playoffs, and evening matches of the double-headers on weekends)’ D) ‘Rest of the world’.

The eligible firms have to bid separately for each category, and Rs 32,890 crore (Approximately 4.2 billion USD) set by the BCCI as a base price. Each bidding party should get acquainted with the eligibility criteria. 

In India, where cricket is a hugely popular sport, the auction is generating a lot of buzzes. However, the Indian cricket board is sure to get substantially more than the base price due to the bidding war amongst the major names.