Sony front-runner for IPL TV rights, Star eyes digital
MUMBAI: The IPL media rights, which will be unveiled on Monday, are expected to break all limits. The BCCI is gearing up for a windfall of over ~20,000 crore especially after the Supreme Court refused to direct the Board to conduct e-auction on the plea of Subramanian Swamy.
Twenty four companies have entered the bid for television and digital rights of the world’s most popular T20 league.
As many as seven media rights are up for grabs after the BCCI decided to break the bids into specific regions. While the Indian market bids are divided into television and digital, there will be separate bids (broadcast and digital together) placed for USA, Europe, Middle East, Africa and the rest of the world.
Current rights holder Sony Pictures Network will seek to break the bank to retain television rights as they struggle to stay relevant in the Indian market.
Sony Pictures Network, who paid ~8,200 crore for a 10-year deal when the IPL was conceived, may face challenge from Star India.
But sports market analysts believe Star India might not go aggressively for TV rights. “Star India already have India cricket rights and the ICC rights. So they do not need IPL as much as Sony. Also, with Star India going aggressive in developing other sports properties like kabaddi and hockey, it is quite clear that their focus is not just cricket anymore,” said an analyst.
With the internet penetrating at high speed and cheap data packages, there are more players interested to buy the IPL digital rights. This is where Star India may go aggressively to retain their rights. Competition will be fierce with digital giants like Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Reliance Jio Infocomm and Airtel entering the fray this time.
Speculation is rife that Sony may join hands with Amazon to win all rights. According to BCCI, the digital rights fetched them ~303 crore for the three-year global deal. Industry analysts expect the numbers to be mindboggling in the digital space this time.