Mumbai Central railway station building, First Published Jun 12, 2022, 5:21 PM IST
Mumbai: IPL Media Rights auction The broadcasting rights auction is in progress. According to ANI, the amount of TV and digital broadcasting rights in the Indian subcontinent has crossed Rs 100 crore per match. The total bid for the broadcasting rights is reported to have crossed Rs 42,000 crore. The bids submitted by the last bidding team are around Rs 10,000 crore more than the BCCI’s base price of Rs 32,440 crore. But the amount is not final. The auction process is still in progress.
When Star Sports acquired the broadcasting rights in 2017, it had to pay Rs 54.5 crore per match. Compared to the previous year, the competition for digital broadcasting rights is fierce. With the rise of digital platforms and the advent of OTT platforms, the competition for digital broadcasting rights has intensified.
With over Rs 100 crore per match, the IPL will be the second richest sports league in the world. Currently, the National Football League (approximately Rs 133 crore per match) is the richest sports league in the world. The IPL is ranked fourth behind the NFL, English Premier League and Major League Baseball.
The broadcasting rights will be auctioned off from 2023 to 2027. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Group and Hot Star are the main contenders for the broadcasting rights. The auction is aimed at acquiring television broadcasting rights and online streaming rights to various countries. Hotstar currently owns the rights to online streaming.
Ten companies are currently in the process of acquiring streaming and television broadcasts. Among them are Viacom 18, owned by Reliance Industries, Star Group, owned by Walt Disney, Sea TV and Sony. The auction is expected to fetch around Rs 59,000 crore. There are reports that Viacom 18 is ahead of others. Meanwhile, the giants Amazon had withdrawn.
The PTI report quoted BCCI sources as saying that the application for the Google-owned YouTube bid has been accepted but has not yet been submitted. Companies are vying for the television and digital broadcasting rights for the next five years of IPL matches. Currently there are 74 matches in a season but in the last two years it will increase to 94 matches. Broadcasting rights are sold in four main categories.
Category A sells television broadcasting rights in India. Category B owns the digital broadcasting rights of the Indian subcontinent. There will be digital broadcasting rights for 18 selected matches in C category. Category D owns television and digital broadcasting rights outside India.
For digital broadcasting exclusively, Times Internet, Fun Asia, Dream11 and Fancode are among the companies that have acquired SkySports (UK) and SuperSports (South Africa) to acquire broadcasting rights outside India. Five years ago, Star Sports acquired the TV and digital broadcasting rights for Rs 16,347.50 crore.
Last Updated Jun 12, 2022, 5:21 PM IST
