EXPLAINED | IPL’s mega media rights auction – what’s in store?

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Another bumper pay-day awaits the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights will be e-auctioned on Sunday. A short explainer…

What’s the IPL media auction?

In rudimentary terms, it’s basically which company will have the right to broadcast the IPL across multiple platforms (TV and online). Rights to the last cycle was owned by Star India. The next cycle (2023-27) is now upon us. Industry sources suggest that the next cycle could go for well in excess of Rs 50,000 crore (last cycle was worth just south of Rs 16,350 crore).

Who are the companies in the fray?

Reports suggest Amazon have dropped out. So, the main players remaining are Disney-Star, Sony-Zee and Viacom18. What’s adding a layer of intrigue is that both Sony-Zee and Viacom are getting a new cash injection. So both of them could flex their muscles a bit to add one of the most premium products in the Indian sporting ecosystem today.

Explain?

There is a merger between Sony and Zee which is expected to give them enough capital to swing this. Viacom18 is also going to be flush with cash with a group of investors pouring money (one of them is Uday Shankar who rewrote cricket broadcasting during his time at Star). It’s also why there’s belief that the incumbent faces a fight. One also needs to see how the BCCI plans to handle any potential conflict of interest charges if Viacom wins any of the bids. It has a clear link to Reliance which owns one of the franchises.

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Okay, how will it work?

It’s going to be a first-of-its-kind e-auction in Indian cricket. So incremental bids can be placed and bidders have the option of walking away at any time during the process. The process will go on till there is a winner in all categories. As the BCCI have decided to operate without a deadline, it could very well spill into Monday.

Wait, all categories? What does that mean?

Unlike in 2017, when Star won because of a consolidated bid even though likes of Facebook bid the highest amount in the digital category, BCCI have split the categories this time. In all, there are four categories. TV rights for Indian sub-continent (Category A, base price of Rs 49 crore per game), digital rights (Category B, base price of Rs 33 crore per game), a non-exclusive package open only to OTTs (Category C, base price of Rs 16 crore per game broadcasting 18-20 games per season) and Rest of the World (Category D, base price of Rs 3 crore per game).

Can you break this down further?

We could well have a scenario of rivals owning the same product on different platforms. For example, Star India may have the rights to broadcast the games on TV but Viacom (via Voot) or Sony-Zee (likely via SonyLIV) may own the rights to show on an OTT platform. In the 2017-22 cycle, Star India owned the product outright because of its consolidated bid.

How have industry sources arrived at the figure of Rs 50000 crore?

Simple, really. Cricket always sells in India. Even if there were reports of low audience viewership earlier this season, that wouldn’t deter companies from advertising. Games have increased and it’s likely that games will once again increase within the next five years (if the BCCI adopts a home-away format games played by each team will jump from 14 to 18, for example). Potentially, more cricket, there is a belief, will translate into more money.

Could that be a world record?

For cricket, yes. People tend to compare the worldwide market leader, the English Premier League but that’s way out in front thanks to the money it commands from overseas broadcasting rights.