IPL Media Rights: IPL is the most watched league in the world. Many cricketers have made their career by playing here. The tussle between Jeff Bezos and Mukesh Ambani to win one of the world’s most expensive sports properties will no longer be a sight to behold, as ‘OTT giant’ Amazon on Friday claimed the Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights starting on Sunday. Decided to withdraw from the upcoming bid.
Reliance may get media rights
Reliance Industries Limited’s Viacom18 is considered to be one of the strong contenders for both TV and digital rights. Bezos had expected Amazon to be the frontrunner for the biggest bid for digital rights, but withdrew from the race without giving reasons.
10 companies in the race
A senior official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told PTI on the condition of confidentiality, ‘Yes, Amazon is out of the race. He also did not participate in the technical bidding process today. As far as Google (YouTube) is concerned, they have taken the bidding documents but have not submitted them. So far 10 companies (TV and streaming) are in the race.
There are four packages for media rights
This time around there are four special packages for media rights, in which 74 matches of each season will be e-auctioned over two days, for a time period of five years from 2023 to 2027, with the number of matches in the last two years being reduced.
There is also a provision to increase it to 94. Package A contains the Indian subcontinent exclusive TV (broadcast) rights. While Package B includes the digital rights for the Indian subcontinent.
Package C has rights for these matches
Package C is for digital rights for 18 selected matches in each season while Package D (all matches) will be for combined rights for TV and digital for overseas market. “Let us make it clear that Viacom18 JV (Giant Venture), existing rights holders Walt Disney (Star), Zee and Sony are the four contenders for the package, which have a strong hold on the TV and digital market,” the official said.
Bid for Rs.
Some other contenders, mainly for digital rights, are Times Internet, FunAsia, Dream11, Fancode, while Sky Sports (UK) and SuperSport (South Africa) will be pursuing overseas TV and digital rights.
Last time Star India had acquired both TV and digital rights in a combined bid of Rs 16,347.50 crore, but this time the overall base price will be more than Rs 32,000 crore.