The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s new invitation for bids on media coverage rights for Indian Premier League matches between 2011 and 2014 seems unlikely to move forward very soon.
On Tuesday, soon after the BCCI issued its tender, a parallel development saw the Supreme Court staying a Bombay High Court order of last month, allowing Mauritius-based World Sports Group’s (WSG) appeal against BCCI on a termination of an agreement for IPL’s Rs 450-crore overseas telecast rights.
A bench of judges R V Ravindran and A K Patnaik issued a notice to WSG but also took an undertaking from BCCI that any contract entered into by WSG was not to be meddled with till further orders.
And, earlier in the day, WSG slammed the BCCI tender as a breach of last month’s HC ruling, saying it was an “unfair, unwarranted and unnecessary attempt by the BCCI to create facts on the ground in the context of the Supreme Court’s forthcoming consideration of the admissibility of an appeal”. The entire battle seems set to intensify in the SC, after having gone twice to the Bombay HC.
“The BCCI’s invitation to tender illustrates its continuing unwillingness to follow due legal process. (We) will take the necessary action to protect its commercial rights and those of its licensees around the world,” WSG had earlier said.
The HC order had sought appointment of an arbitrator on the dispute between the two parties and a freeze on award of new media coverage rights till then. BCCI has challenged this in the SC, but isn’t going to be able to disturb the status quo till arguments are heard.
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“Till an arbitrator is appointed, BCCI is restrained from giving the contract to anyone. The board has also made a statement that they will not create any third party rights till then,” the HC order had said.
In June 2010, BCCI had cancelled the media rights it had earlier awarded to WSG, Mauritius, citing “improper payment” of a facilitation fee worth Rs 425 crore from Multi-Screen Media (MSM). Initially, WSG (India) held the international television, global radio, mobile and internet rights for IPL seasons one to five and global media rights for seasons six to 10. Then, on March 14, 2009, and before IPL-2 in South Africa, BCCI terminated an existing agreement with MuSM and awarded the Indian sub-continent television rights to WSG, Mauritius.
MSM then worked out an arrangement with WSG, Mauritius, guaranteeing a facilitation fee, which BCCI disputed.
The tender issued by BCCI on Tuesday had invited bids for IPL mobile, radio and internet rights, along with broadcast rights for certain territories from 2011 to 2014. “The Indian Premier League, a sub-committee of the BCCI, invites bids in respect of global internet and mobile rights, along with certain television rights,” said BCCI in a public announcement.
The rights are for worldwide television apart from India, Australia, South Africa,West Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Caribbean, and for worldwide radio apart from West Asia, worldwide Internet with a five-minute delay in India, and worldwide mobile rights, again with a five minute delay in India.
BCCI has said that agencies cannot take part but consortium bids will be accepted with at least one company meeting the tender’s minimum criteria with respect to average monthly users and annual net ad revenue. The bidders or consortium may opt one of three packages: all the rights, all rights apart from worldwide mobile rights, and worldwide mobile rights only.The bid document is available for Rs 200,000 from March 8-15 and bids must be made by March 20 in Chennai.