Cricket and IPL personify the best of sport, says Nita Ambani after Viacom18 bags digital streaming rights

Viacom18 have acquired the digital streaming rights for the Indian sub-continent for the Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons between 2023 and 2027, as the recent IPL media rights auction concluded on Tuesday.

The digital streaming rights were sold to Viacom18 for Rs 20,500 crore, and apart from that, the company also secured the rights for streaming 18 non-exclusive marquee games per season for the next five-year cycle. These matches include the opening match of the season, four players plus the final and the evening matches of the double-headers.

Nita Ambani, director of Reliance Industries Ltd, said in a statement released by Viavom18 that cricket, and IPL in particular, personified the best of sport.

“Sports entertain us, inspire us and bring us together. Cricket and IPL personify the best of sport and the best of India, which is why we are proud to be deepening our association with this great game and this wonderful league. Just like with everything we do, our mission is to take the joyful experience of IPL to cricket fans wherever they are – in every part of our country and around the world”, Nita Ambani said.

In the statement, Viacom18 said that the company was building the digital platforms of the future.

“Viacom18 outbid reputed broadcasters and digital companies to establish itself as a leading digital media, entertainment and sports destination. With its wide reach, strategic tie-ups and increasingly popular content bouquet, the digital platforms of Viacom18 are gearing up for leadership in India as well as with the Indian diaspora globally. With these IPL rights, Viacom18 will be able to take India’s biggest sporting event to every nook and corner of the country. It will make IPL available to every Indian in every part of India, including the 60 million FreeDish homes which today are not able to access this popular content,” the company said in its statement.

“Viacom18 has demonstrated that it is building the digital platforms of the future while continuing to strengthen traditional television broadcasting. It has state-of-the-art digital expertise to provide the best possible user experience to hundreds of millions of Indian and global consumers. The digital platforms utilise a combination of top-class content as well as digital prowess through big data analytics and predictive algorithms to offer contextualised and relevant content to each consumer,” it added.

The company said in its statement that it would be an ‘exceptional’ opportunity for advertisers to reach a much younger audience.

“This will be an exceptional opportunity for advertisers to reach a larger, younger, more relevant and highly-engaged audience. The targeting opportunities because of Viacom18’s strategic partnership with Jio will be unparalleled,” the company added.

While Viacom18 won the streaming rights for the next five IPL seasons, Disney Star won the television rights for Rs 23,575 crore. First Post