IPL media rights auction: Companies pad up for big cricket battle today

Telecast ownership is worth nearly Rs 60,000 crore: compared to the Rs 16,347.50 crore Disney-Star paid in 2017 for the 2018-22 period.

The television and digital broadcast rights for cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL), one of the world's most-valuable sporting properties, will be sold on Sunday. Broadcasters Disney-Star, Sony, Zee and Viacom18 will participate in an e-auction to earn the telecast rights for the T20 tournament, valued at $4.7 billion, for 2023-27.

At least ten companies picked up bid documents last month, but seven remain in the race after US technology giants Amazon, Google and Apple opted out. For the e-auction, companies file bids through an online portal.

"The companies that submitted technical bids included Disney-Star, Sony, Zee, Viacom18, Times Internet, Supersport from South Africa, and FunAsia, which is a media company based in North America. It caters to the South Asian community, so the IPL is a relevant platform for them," said a source in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

"Amazon and Google did not submit technical bids (on Friday), though they had picked up the bid documents (last month)," said the source.

Media rights worth Rs 60,000 crore

IPL media rights are estimated to be worth nearly Rs 60,000 crore, compared to the Rs 16,347.50 crore Disney-Star paid in 2017 for the 2018-22 cycle.

Some critics have questioned the high price of the rights by saying that IPL’s viewership dropped nearly 30-35 per cent in the 2022 edition compared to the previous year.

Amazon and Google’s exit is expected to temper the battle for the digital media rights, which experts reckon could have fetched a 100 per cent premium over the previous cycle had the companies participated in the e-auction.

Analysts said that the value of the IPL media rights is justified, given the tournament’s scale and viewer engagement.

"Cricket will continue to enjoy sheer dominance in India, medium term, propped by large and lucrative properties such as the Indian Premier League. Thus, expect IPL renewal to underpin media rights growth in India, medium term,” said a June 7 report by Elara Securities.

No bundling

The BCCI has set a base price of Rs 32,890 crore for the rights, ending the option of a composite bid for the 2023-27 cycle. In 2017, Disney-Star bagged both the TV and digital rights in a combined bid.

This time, the rights have been split into four categories: television for the Indian subcontinent, digital for the Indian sub-continent, special games package, and rest of the world (ROW) rights.

Bundle A, which comprises the Indian sub-continent TV rights, has a base price of Rs 49 crore per game. For 370 games across five seasons at 74 games per season, the base price of TV rights adds up to Rs 18,130 crore.

Bundle B, which comprises digital rights for the India sub-continent, has a base price of Rs 33 crore per game. The base price for the five-year period is Rs 12,210 crore.

Bundle C, which is a special package comprising 18 games including the opening match, playoff matches, and double-header night matches for each season, has a reserve price of Rs 16 crore per game or Rs 1,440 crore for five years.

Bundle D is the rest of the world (ROW) rights and has a base price of Rs 3 crore per game or Rs 1,110 crore for five years. The winner of this package will get the rights to both TV and digital rights for global markets outside the Indian sub-continent.

Who will go for what price

The TV broadcast rights for the Indian subcontinent (package A) and the digital rights for the region (package B) will see participation from Disney-Star, Sony, Zee, and Viacom18, according to media experts.

"The current rights holder Disney-Star, Sony, Zee and Viacom18 are the four contenders for the two packages (A and B), since they have a strong presence in both TV and digital," said an executive from one of the bidding firms.

Times Internet, Supersport (South Africa) and FunAsia are expected to bid for overseas TV and digital rights (package D). Times Internet has a presence in the US through Willow TV, while SuperSport is a leading sports broadcaster in South Africa. FunAsia has a strong South Asian connect, experts said.

The IPL media rights e-auction starts at 11 am and it will be conducted by mjunction, a joint venture between Tata Steel and SAIL.