What is on offer and how much can BCCI actually earn from the rights?
The TV and digital rights of IPL are being offered for the period 2023 to 2027. These include the rights to broadcast the IPL on both television and digital platforms in India and around the world. The BCCI has divided the rights into four different buckets and set a base price for each bucket.
- The most lucrative bucket is the television rights for the IPL in India, with a base price of Rs 18,130 crore, calculated based on 74 games for the next five years. The base price fixed for each game is Rs 90 crore, which is almost double the current valuation of the property. The BCCI reserves the right to increase the number of games and as such the assessment may be modified pro-rata.
- The second bucket includes digital rights to property in India and the base value has been fixed at Rs 12,200 crore. The high valuation of digital rights is an indication of the increasing popularity of digital media and the rapid change in the consumption patterns of the people.
- The third bucket holds the rights to 18 games, including the opener and four play-off matches. This only applies to streaming services with a single platform, which are given the option of opting for this bundle. This is a new addition, and as BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted on March 29, 2022, it is an attempt to “not only revenue maximization but value maximisation”. The base price of this bucket has been kept at Rs 1,440 crore.
- The fourth bundle is overseas TV and digital rights, which is expected to fetch a minimum of Rs 1,100 crore to the BCCI.
An informed estimate based on past practices suggests that BCCI should get at least 1.3-1.5 times the base price, which in this case amounts to a total of Rs 45,000-50,000 crore.
Can one make a joint bid for the rights the way Star Sports did in the previous cycle?
No, composite bids have been terminated and no company can now place composite bids. While a company can actually bid for all buckets, each of these bids will be treated as separate bids and the winner will be decided on the basis of the highest bid in each category.
How is the process different from what happened last time?
There are two fundamental differences from what happened last time in 2017. The first, as noted above, is that composite bids have been eliminated. Had it been implemented in 2017, Sony, which had the highest bid for the TV, would have retained the rights to the television and Facebook would have walked away from the digital rights. Star only managed to get the rights because a composite bid was allowed.
The second third is the introduction of Bucket, which allows a streaming platform to acquire non-exclusive rights to 18 games per season. With the addition of openers and playoffs in this bucket, it is a good proposition for the cricket pie to have multiple platforms and is going to bring BCCI top dollar.
Could there be a scenario where different companies end up with different buckets on offer?
Absolutely. Such a scenario is possible and very likely. For foreign rights, for example, there is certainly a possibility of a different buyer than the rights taker for Indian territory. Again, there is also the potential for a bidding war between multiple streaming platforms, for the non-exclusive rights to 18 games. As a result, IPL 2023 is consumed on multiple platforms in India and the world.
When is the decision expected?
There will be an e-auction for each bucket and each auction will be held on June 12, 2022, with the winners expected to be announced on the same day.
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