According to a report published in the Economic Times, the Indian board is in the closing stages of finalizing the tender. If market experts are to be believed, the five-year-cycle media rights of the IPL are likely to be sold for close to a whopping INR 50,000 crores.
This will be more than thrice the amount at which Star + Disney bought the rights five years ago. Back in 2017, Star bought broadcasting as well as digital rights for a staggering INR 16,347.5 crores.
This time, however, the BCCI is planning to sell the broadcasting and digital rights separately. A source close to one of the potential bidders was quoted as saying by the Economic Times said:
Will Disney Star retain the IPL media rights for the next five-year cycle?
The BCCI were originally scheduled to make the tender open on February 10. However, the process was delayed as the Indian board, alongside KPMG, is still in the final stages of preparing the document and taking a legal standpoint.
Back in 2021, President Sourav Ganguly reckoned that the media rights could be sold for close to INR 40,000 crores.
Tuhin Mishra, the managing director of a sports marketing firm, Baseline Ventures, believes that the bidders will have to ‘break the bank’ in order to win the rights of one of the most lucrative properties in sport. He said:
Mishra also believes that Star Disney would be aware of the fact that their subscriber growth depends heavily on the IPL. They will be going all out to retain the rights. He said:
He added:
Initially, one of the factions in the BCCI was in favor of having a closed auction. However, with three-four players expected to ‘break the bank’, the top-brass decided to conduct an e-auction.
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