BCCI floats IPL media rights tender: e-auction to kick off on June 12
The tender has been invited for Seasons 2023-2027
Ending months of suspense, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally announced the release of Invitation to Tender (ITT) for media rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons 2023-2027. The IPL media rights e-auction will kick off on 12th June.
"I'm pleased to announce that BCCI has issued the tender document for IPL media rights for seasons 2023-27. With 2 new teams, more matches, more engagement, more venues, we are looking to take Tata IPL to newer and greater heights. The Tender document is now available for purchase," BCCI Secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.
"For the first time in IPL history, the media rights will be e-auctioned. The e-auction will commence on June 12th, 2022. I've no doubts that with this process there will not only be revenue maximisation but also value maximisation, which will benefit India Cricket immensely," he added.
As per media reports, the BCCI will split the media rights tender in five packages. These include, Package A) Global Rights Television, Package B) Global Digital Rights, Package C) Rest of World Rights (Broadcast / Digital both), Package D) Television Rights Sub-Continent, and Package E) Digital Rights Sub-Continent.
The IPL Governing Council is inviting bids from reputed entities to acquire the media rights for the IPL 2023 to 2027 seasons, through a tender process. The detailed terms and conditions governing the tender process including eligibility requirements, process for submissions of bids, proposed media rights packages, obligations, etc. are contained in the ITT.
The tender document will be made available on receipt of payment of a non-refundable fee of Rs 25 lakh plus any applicable Goods and Services Tax (GST). The tender will be available for purchase till May 10, 2022.
Interested parties will have to email the details of payment made for the purchase of the ITT to iplmediarights2022@bcci.tv. The tender documents will be shared only on receipt of payment of the non-refundable ITT fee.
Parties wishing to submit a bid are required to purchase the ITT. However, only those satisfying the eligibility criteria set out in the ITT and subject to the other terms and conditions set out therein shall be eligible to bid.
The BCCI clarified that merely purchasing the ITT does not entitle any person to bid. The BCCI added that it reserves the right to cancel or amend the bidding process at any stage in any manner at its discretion.
The media & entertainment (M&E) industry has been waiting with bated breath for the big-bang IPL media rights auction to kick off. The upcoming IPL media rights e-auction is expected to see record sums of money being pledged to bag the media rights of the coveted tournament.
As reported earlier, Disney Star, Zee-Sony, Reliance-backed Viacom18, and Amazon are expected to be the key bidders for the IPL media rights. The names of American tech companies and global business consortiums are also doing the rounds.
The BCCI is eyeing a whopping $5 billion from the IPL media rights auction. The cricket board believes that the increase in the number of games coupled with heightened competitive intensity due to e-auction will ensure that the IPL media rights value will set a new benchmark.
Sports business experts reckon that the value of IPL digital rights will see a massive upside thanks to the growth in the consumption of sports content on digital platforms.
That said, media executives believe that TV rights will continue to command a lion's share of the media rights value considering the monetisation potential of the medium.
IPL has completed 15 years this year after a memorable inaugural season in 2008. So far Star India and Sony Pictures Networks India have held IPL media rights in the 15-year history of the tournament. Sony held the rights for 10 years while Star got the rights for a period of 5 years.
The IPL media rights value almost doubled in 2017 with Star paying Rs 16,347.5 crore for the global deal. On the other hand, Sony was Rs 8200 crore for TV rights for the Indian sub-continent.
