Rights to India’s Home Bilateral Games Sold through E-Auction
Nagraj Gollapudi |
Viacom18 Wins Media Rights for Indian Cricket
Viacom18 has secured the media rights, both digital and television, for Indian cricket globally for the period of 2023-2027. The deal was finalized in an e-auction conducted by the BCCI on Thursday, with Viacom18 offering INR 5963 crore (USD 720.60 million approx.). This includes all cricket matches organized by the BCCI in India, including both international and domestic games, with the exception of the IPL.
Competitors and Bid Details
- Viacom18 outbid Disney Star* and Sony to win the auction.
- In the digital category, Viacom18 bid INR 3101 crore (USD 374.70 million approx.).
- Viacom18 also secured the television rights by bidding INR 2862 crore (USD 345.90 million approx.).
- The bids of Disney Star and Sony remain unconfirmed.
Viacom18’s Expanding Media Portfolio
Viacom18 is already the owner of digital rights for IPL and both digital and TV rights for the Women’s Premier League (WPL). With this latest deal, Viacom18’s media rights for Indian cricket have significantly expanded.
Increased Value and Rights Period
The deal with Viacom18 translates to an average per-match value of INR 67.75 crore, which is 12.92% higher than the previous cycle’s value of INR 60 crore paid by Star India. In the previous cycle, Disney Star had won the worldwide rights for India’s games for INR 6138 crore, covering a total of 102 international matches. This time, the BCCI listed 88 international matches for the rights period.
Changes in Bidding Categories
In the previous cycle, the BCCI had three categories of rights up for bidding. However, for this auction, the BCCI limited the bidding to two categories:
- TV rights for Indian subcontinent (base price INR 20 crore, or USD 2.42 million approx.).
- Digital rights for Indian subcontinent combined with TV and digital rights for the rest of the world (base price INR 25 crore, or USD 3 million approx.).
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah confirmed the news through a tweet on Thursday evening.
Previous Media Rights Bidding
In the previous IPL media rights bidding, Viacom18 secured digital rights for the Indian subcontinent and TV+Digital rights for Australia + New Zealand, the UK, and South Africa, for INR 23,758 crore. Disney Star won the IPL TV rights for the Indian subcontinent in the same auction. Viacom18 also won the global media rights for the Women’s Premier League (WPL) by outbidding Disney Star.
*ESPNcricinfo and Disney Star are part of the Walt Disney Company.
About the Author
Nagraj Gollapudi is the news editor at ESPNcricinfo.
