IPL MEDIA RIGHTS BIDDING TO BEGIN AT ₹35,000 CRORE

MUMBAI: The much-anticipated Indian Premier League media rights tender for the next five years (2023-27) will hit the market on March 28 and the e-auction process is expected to conclude in two months. The new rights winners will be known immediately after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League. A final go-ahead to float the tender was given by the IPL Governing Council in a meeting here on Friday.

Unlike past practice, there will be no consolidated rights category in the current tender. Bids will be invited for four separate packages—digital, TV, rest of the world and a new non-exclusive bundle of 18 matches, based on advice from KPMG, consultants to the tender. “The idea is to spread opportunities to different interested media companies and maximise revenue for the board,” a BCCI official said.

Having expanded the league to 10 teams with more matches (74 from 60 in the last IPL), the Indian board is expecting to generate record revenue from its marquee competition. The collective base price from various categories itself has been pegged at ₹35,000 crore, which is more than double of what Disney Star currently pays (₹16,346.50 crore) to hold IPL’s digital and broadcast rights. As per the board’s internal estimates, the separate packaging could see the rights value shoot past ₹45,000 crore.

Other than Disney Star, ZeeSony and Reliance (Viacom 18) are expected to bid for the TV rights. BCCI is expecting aggressive bidding in the digital space with the likes of Amazon Prime, Meta, YouTube and digital destinations of all those in the running for TV rights also expected to be interested.

Women’s IPL next year BCCI has had preliminary discussions to kick-off a six-team women’s IPL from next year. The existing IPL franchises will be approached first before enquiring on more interest from the market.

For this year, the Women’s T20 Challenge—three teams and four matches—will be held at the end of May in Pune.