Tough battle on cards for IPL media rights; India rights alone could fetch Rs 20k - Rs27k-crore
MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), despite facing pressure from the Supreme Court to implement the Lodha Committee recommendations, is poised for a windfall with the media rights auction of its most prized property, the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The India subcontinent television rights for IPL are up for grabs for 10 IPL seasons (2018-2027) and experts believe that there will be a very high competition among the bidders, led by Star India and current rights holder Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN). The digital rights and rest of the world rights will be sold for five years each. Out of 16 tenders picked up so far, there are the usual suspects like Star India and SPN, which everyone believes, will be the only fighters for the Indian TV rights.
"The Indian subcontinent TV rights seem to be a play between Sony and Star. But the digital rights have attracted a lot on attention and are expected to be fiercely competitive," feels Vinit Karnik, business head-ESP Properties, a GroupM company. Other players who have picked up the tender document include Amazon India, Reliance Jio Infocomm and Times Internet, which are expected to bid aggressively for the digital rights. ESPN is likely to bid for the US region, while Sky and BT Group are likely to fight for Europe.
From the Middle East, Al Jazeera Media Network-owned beIN Media has picked up the tender to compete with current rights holder OSN, while African companies Econet Wireless and SuperSports are also in the reckoning. GroupM’s ESP Properties and Houston-based data analytics firm FollowOn have also bought the tenders. Experts feel that the India TV rights alone could fetch between Rs 20,000 crore and Rs 27,000 crore or even higher if it gets more competitive. BCCI, in fact, is expecting about Rs 30,000 crore from the IPL in the next 10 years, according to internal sources.
"I don’t think it will be surprising to see a huge spike in the media rights value. Whether it will be a fair value is something only time will tell," said Indranil Das Blah, COO of Kwan Entertainment &
Marketing Solutions. "We can expect an extremely intense competition between Star and Sony," said Jehil Thakkar, head of media and entertainment at KPMG India. Highly placed sources in the BCCI have confirmed to ET that the board has received good response from across the world for its invitation to tender (ITT) for the media rights that was opened on September 19.
MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), despite facing pressure from the Supreme Court to implement the Lodha Committee recommendations, is poised for a windfall with the media rights auction of its most prized property, the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The India subcontinent television rights for IPL are up for grabs for 10 IPL seasons (2018-2027) and experts believe that there will be a very high competition among the bidders, led by Star India and current rights holder Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN). The digital rights and rest of the world rights will be sold for five years each. Out of 16 tenders picked up so far, there are the usual suspects like Star India and SPN, which everyone believes, will be the only fighters for the Indian TV rights.
"The Indian subcontinent TV rights seem to be a play between Sony and Star. But the digital rights have attracted a lot on attention and are expected to be fiercely competitive," feels Vinit Karnik, business head-ESP Properties, a GroupM company. Other players who have picked up the tender document include Amazon India, Reliance Jio Infocomm and Times Internet, which are expected to bid aggressively for the digital rights. ESPN is likely to bid for the US region, while Sky and BT Group are likely to fight for Europe.
From the Middle East, Al Jazeera Media Network-owned beIN Media has picked up the tender to compete with current rights holder OSN, while African companies Econet Wireless and SuperSports are also in the reckoning. GroupM’s ESP Properties and Houston-based data analytics firm FollowOn have also bought the tenders. Experts feel that the India TV rights alone could fetch between Rs 20,000 crore and Rs 27,000 crore or even higher if it gets more competitive. BCCI, in fact, is expecting about Rs 30,000 crore from the IPL in the next 10 years, according to internal sources.
"I don’t think it will be surprising to see a huge spike in the media rights value. Whether it will be a fair value is something only time will tell," said Indranil Das Blah, COO of Kwan Entertainment &
Marketing Solutions. "We can expect an extremely intense competition between Star and Sony," said Jehil Thakkar, head of media and entertainment at KPMG India. Highly placed sources in the BCCI have confirmed to ET that the board has received good response from across the world for its invitation to tender (ITT) for the media rights that was opened on September 19.
