 "Cricket is money: What is at stake in BCCI media rights e-auction")
The BCCI will on August 31 (Thursday) conduct an e-auction for Team India's home matches during the 2023-28 cycle.
For the 88 matches to be played in the five-year cycle of 2023-2028, the board has set a base price of Rs 20 crore per match for TV rights and Rs 25 crore per match for digital. The combined base price is Rs 3,960 crore.
The BCCI aims to earn well from the e-auction but some analysts are cautious about the returns.
Here's what brokerage firm Elara Capital has said about the e-auction:
According to Elara Capital, BCCI will likely rake up Rs 6,500 crore by selling TV rights and Rs 7,500 crore from digital.
"We expect the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to garner 1.6-1.9x of base price (approximately 32 per cent higher than earlier cycle rights on a like-to-like basis, as the number of matches has come off by 15 per cent vs the earlier cycle), as the current base at Rs 450 million per match is already 25 per cent lower than the last cycle’s price of Rs 600 million," said Karan Taurani, an analyst with Elara Capital, in a report by the Economic Times.
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According to Elara, the TV rights premium is likely 30-40 per cent higher over the base price while the digital rights premium may be 80-90 per cent.
BCCI’s earnings from previous media rights cycle (2018-2023)
In 2018, Star Sports won BCCI’s TV and digital rights for Rs 6,138.1 crore by beating Reliance and Sony in a closed auction.
The BCCI hopes to have a successful e-auction on Thursday as in the five-year cycle India will host two big cricketing teams: Australia and England. Out of 88 games to be played by India at home in the cycle, 39 will be against the two cricketing powerhouses.
India vs Australia during the 2023-28 cycle
2023
Three ODIs in September
Five T20Is in November
2027
Five-match Test series in January-March
Three ODIs in November-December
Five T20Is in November-December
India vs England during the 2023-28 cycle
2024
Five-match Test series January-March
2025
Three ODIs in January-February
Five T20Is in January-February
2028
Five-match Test series in January-February
What is e-auction?
An e-auction is a transaction between the sellers and bidders in an electronic marketplace.
E-auction is considered transparent, and the fate is in the bidder's hands.
The bidder can either increase the existing bid in a stipulated time or withdraw.
BCCI employed the e-auction method during the media rights auction for the Indian Premier League (IPL). While Disney+Star won the TV rights for the 2022-27 cycle of the IPL, Reliance-owned Viacom earned the digital rights. BCCI earned a whopping Rs 48,390 crore for 2022-27 IPL media rights.