Day 1 of IPL media rights e-auction closes at ₹43,050 cr

At an estimated over Rs 42,000 crore for TV and digital rights, Day 1 of the IPL media rights auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the 2023-27 cycle closed on Sunday at a 1.2x jump over the total base price of Rs 32,890 crore and 2.5x jump over the Rs 16,348 crore Star India paid for it five years ago.

The e-auction, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), saw participation from Disney Star India, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), and Reliance Industries-promoted Viacom18.

The e-auction process began at 11 am on Sunday. The process does not allow the names of the bidders to be disclosed during the process. Only the bidding amount will be visible to all the participants.

BCCI has divided the process into four packages – Package A: domestic broadcast rights (base price is Rs 18,130 crore), Package B: digital rights for which the price is Rs 12,210 crore, followed by Package C: international broadcasting rights at Rs 1,110 crore and finally Package D: non-exclusive rights at Rs 1,440 crore.

The IPL tender document says that simultaneous e-auction will be conducted for Package A and Package B, followed by a simultaneous e-auction for Package C and Package D. Hence, the auction is likely to spill over into Monday and, possibly, Tuesday as well.

The money-spinner of a tournament for BCCI is expected to see maximum bidding interest on the first two packages TV and digital rights. But the bidding is also expected to be aggressive for digital rights because of the growth of the OTT industry.

Further, the bidders don’t quite look the same. Star has a new owner in Disney, while Sony and Zee are in the midst of a merger. Then, there is Viacom18, a part of the Reliance Group, which is looking to complement the IPL with its overall broadband and convergence story. Ex-Star India boss, Uday Shankar and James Murdoch, his boss from that time, through Bodhi Tree Systems acquired a 40 per cent stake in Viacom18 for Rs 13,500 crore less than two months ago. That was quickly followed by Viacom18 launching Sports18, a sports channel. MSN