Disney Star, Viacom18 bag media rights for 2023-27 in IPL e-auction’s second day

The 2023-27 media cycle of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will have two broadcasters for digital and television (TV). Day two of the e-auction of media rights for the high-profile Twenty20 tournament saw bidding for the TV and digital mandates (Packages A and B) being completed, taking the total value to Rs 44,075 crore for 410 matches.

The e-auction will continue on Tuesday for Package C (18 non-exclusive digital matches) and Package D (rest of the world).

Viacom18, it is reliably learnt, has picked up the digital rights for the 2023-27 IPL cycle, although the name of the TV rights winner was still unclear at the time of going to press. The names of Sony and Disney Star were doing the rounds as final winners of the TV rights, although executives at the two firms declined to comment when contacted.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to make an official announcement on this.

The fight between Disney Star, Sony Pictures Networks India, and Reliance-backed Viacom18 for the TV rights was fierce on Sunday, said sources, taking the value of the TV rights to Rs 23,370 crore, or Rs 57 crore per match.

By Monday, the auction for the TV rights wound up in an hour after bidding began in the morning, with an incremental bid put in at just Rs 50 lakh. This took the total value of the TV rights to Rs 23,575 crore, or Rs 57.5 crore per match.

The digital rights, meanwhile, saw a rebid exercise on Monday, after closing on Sunday at Rs 48 per match, or Rs 19,680 crore in terms of total value. At the end of the rebid, the digital rights value had moved up to Rs 20,500 crore, or Rs 50 crore per match.

Thanks to all the action on Monday, the per-match value at the IPL now stands at $13.78 million (Rs 107.5 crore), behind America’s National Football League, which costs $17 million (Rs 132.6 crore) per match. The Premier League (English football league) has a per-match value of $11 million (Rs 85.8 crore).

The rights value of Package C, said experts, is likely to touch Rs 1,900 crore, after bidding begins on Tuesday. On Monday, bidding for Package C closed at Rs 1,700 crore, it is learnt, implying it was 18 per cent higher than the reserve price of Rs 1,440 crore set by the BCCI.

For Package D, which is the rights for the rest of the world, bidding may go up to Rs 1,600 crore, said experts, which will be around 44 per cent higher than the base price of Rs 1,110 crore. In total, these remaining two packages, said analysts, would add around Rs 3,500 crore, taking the total media rights value to over Rs 47,000 crore. Business Standard