 "Star wins eight-year telecast rights for ICC cricket events")
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday said it has jointly awarded its audio-visual rights for ICC Events from 2015 to 2023 to Star India and Star Middle East.
The decision followed a tendering, bidding and evaluation process that started in July 2014. During the process, which involved two rounds of bidding, the ICC received 17 competitive bids from various broadcasters across different territories for its audio-visual rights.
While the final value of the rights fee agreed has not been disclosed, Star will likely pay out a total of $1.92 billion, said persons familiar with the matter. This is significantly higher than the existing rights fee of $1.2 billion (for 7 years) that the cricketing body gets. The current cycle has seen ESPN Star Sports hold the audio-visual rights until the contract expires at the end of next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
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The new eight-year deal includes 18 ICC tournaments, including two ICC Cricket World Cups (2019 and 2023), two ICC Champions Trophy tournaments (2017 and 2021) and two ICC World Twenty20 tournaments (2016 and 2020).
ICC Chairman N Srinivasan said: “We are delighted that our partnership with the Star group has extended to the next cycle of ICC Events. This illustrates the strong relationship we have built in the current cycle and the value we have delivered since 2007.
“This commitment for the next eight years will ensure greater stability for ICC Members as well as increased funding for developing and established countries. Emerging nations will have access to the largest funding resource in the history of the game and the Board has fully endorsed this framework as the best means of safeguarding the future of the sport."
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said the agreement "guarantees more money for all our Members, thereby underpinning the growth and development of the game".
Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India, said: “We are delighted and honoured to extend our partnership with ICC. This is a tribute to Star's commitment and ICC's trust in our ability to take the great game of cricket to the next level. Star will constantly attempt to reinvent the viewer experience to make cricket bigger and bigger.”