IPL media rights auction: Disney Star, Sony, Zee, Viacom18 to run the last lap
With Amazon, Google and Apple Inc staying out of the bidding process, there are 10 companies now from TV and streaming in the fray
The Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights e-auction will see a four-way battle between Disney Star India, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), and Reliance-backed Viacom18.
E-commerce giant Amazon has backed out of the IPL media rights race. Tech giant Google also didn't participate in the technical bidding process, so did not Apple Inc. "Yes, Amazon is out of the race. They didn't join the technical bidding process today. As far as Google (YouTube) is concerned, they had picked up the bid document but didn't submit it. As of now, 10 companies (TV and streaming) are in the fray," a BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Package A (TV broadcast rights for the Indian sub-continent) and Package B (digital rights for the Indian sub-continent) will see participation from Disney Star, Sony, Zee, and Viacom18. "Let's make it clear, the Viacom 18 JV (Joint Venture), current rights holder Walt Disney (Star), Zee, and Sony are the four contenders for the packages with solid footprints in both TV and digital market," the official said.
Companies like Times Internet, Sky Sports (UK), and Supersport (South Africa) are expected to bid for overseas TV and digital rights. Times Internet has a presence in the US through Willow TV while Sky Sports and SuperSport are leading sports broadcasters in the UK and South Africa respectively.
The IPL media rights e-auction, which will commence on 12th June, will be conducted by mjunction, a joint venture (JV) between Tata Steel and SAIL.
The BCCI has set a base price of Rs 32,890 crore for the IPL media rights which is more than double Star India's winning bid of Rs 16,347.5 crore in 2017. The BCCI has done away with the option of a composite bid for the next five-year IPL media rights cycle.
The IPL media rights have been split into four categories - TV rights for the Indian sub-continent, Digital rights for the Indian sub-continent, Special games package, and Rest of the World (ROW) rights for all Territory Groupings and each territory grouping.
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 a whopping 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, has a reserve price of Rs 16 crore per game or Rs 1440 crore for five years
The Bundle D package is for the Rest of World (ROW) territory and has a base price of Rs 3 crore per game or Rs 1110 crore for five years. The winner of this bundle will get the rights to both TV and digital rights for global markets outside the Indian sub-continent.
