BCCI has put up the media-rights tender for the Indian team’s bilateral matches in the market.
In recent times, bilateral white-ball matches have become more like practice for ICC World Cups, while Test cricket struggles to stay commercially attractive. Broadcasters will consider the high-value IPL and its premium pricing when placing bids for media rights.
During the last cycle (2018-23), BCCI experienced a significant increase in valuations, earning ₹6138 crore, which was one and a half times more than before. Each bilateral match was valued at ₹60 crore, ₹6 crore higher than the IPL’s value at that time.
Since then, the IPL’s value has risen much more compared to bilateral cricket. The BCCI has set a moderate base price this time, unlike last year’s IPL bids that started at two times the old value.
Around 100 matches across formats are expected to be played in the new cycle (2023-28), and at the reserve pricing, the BCCI stands to gain ₹6000 crore. However, it is skeptical that the valuations will rise as significantly as last time.
The BCCI had adopted e-auctions for the first time in the previous cycle and plans to stick to the same process this time. They were also offered the option of closed bidding, but they prefer transparency and openness.
Disney Star, the previous rights holders, may not show much interest in the upcoming bidding, as they are reportedly looking to offload stakes in the Indian market. This could give Viacom 18, the digital rights holders for IPL, a strong position during the bidding, competing with Sony and Zee, who are in the process of merging.
Hotstar may have better plans but the loss of ODI matches will be a massive setback to the platform. Already they have lost IPL, HBO content, and much more. If JioCinema becomes the host of the ODI matches as well, then it’ll be one step closer to fully dominating the Indian OTT market.
There are reports that BCCI is trying to attract Amazon and Google to show interest in media rights, but industry experts are skeptical about this possibility.
The tender document will be available for sale until August 25. Let’s see who grabs it.
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