Star India has won the bid for Board of Control for Cricket in India‘s (BCCI) media rights for the matches to be played in India for Rs 3,851 crore.
The rights include television, internet and mobile coverage for six years, starting July 2012. This contract would cover 96 matches at an average price of Rs 40 crore a match. Thismarks a 30% increase from Nimbus’s price of Rs 31.5 crore per match. The cricket board had terminated its four-year contract with Nimbus Communications in December, after the latter defaulted on payments.
According to sources, Star and Multi Screen Media (MSM), which runs Sony were the only two companies to make the bids with MSM being close second at Rs 3,700 crore.
The BCCI's marketing committee had fixed a floor price of Rs 32.25-34 crore (per Test, one-day international and Twenty20). The bid price of Rs 32.25 crore a match was for 2012-14 (the remaining part of the cancelled contract with Nimbus Communications) and Rs 34 crore for 2015-18.
ESPN-Star already has the rights to all ICC events and also the rights to domestic cricket in England and Australia.
