Disney’s Star retains the IPL TV rights for the 2023-27
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on June 14 fetched Rs 48,390 crore ($6.20 billion) through IPL media rights for a five-year period beginning in 2023, in one of the largest broadcast deals in cricket history.
The most coveted India digital rights deal was acquired for Rs 20,500 crore by Reliance-backed Viacom18, which also won the non-exclusive Package C for an additional Rs 2,991 crore.
While Disney Star retained their Indian subcontinent television rights for Rs 23,575 crore (Rs 57.5 crore per game), packages A and B are for 410 matches spread over five years, with 74 matches in 2023 and 2024 and 84 matches in 2025 and 2026.
Package C included digital rights to 18 non-exclusive marquee games per season, which Viacom18 won with a winning bid of Rs 2,991.6 crore at a rate of Rs 33.24 crore per match. This package contains 90 matches.
Package D, with a base price of Rs 3 crore per game and overseas TV and digital rights available, was sold to Viacom18 and Times Internet for more than Rs 1,300 crore.
“The IPL has been synonymous with growth since its inception, and today is a watershed moment for India Cricket, with Brand IPL reaching a new high with an e-auction resulting in a value of INR 48,390 crore. In terms of pre-match value, the IPL is now the world’s second most valuable sporting league, “Jay Shah, BCCI secretary, stated.
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In terms of sheer valuation, the IPL will now be grouped with the world’s top sporting properties, including the National Football League (USA), the National Basketball Association (USA), and the English Premier League (England).
The new agreement also ends a single broadcaster’s monopoly. Sony paid Rs 8,200 crore for the rights for the first ten years (2008-17), while Star paid Rs 16,347.50 for the next five years.
The value of an IPL match increased by more than 100 percent, from Rs 54.5 crore to more than Rs 114 crore (approx). Globally, the IPL’s per-match value ($14.61 million) is second only to the NFL, where each game is worth $17 million.
However, it is the Indian subcontinent’s digital rights that have stolen the show, with Viacom18 (along with Uday Shankar and James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems) offering Rs 50 crore per game after Star, the winner of Package A, challenged them.
When the auctions were called off on the second day, another Rs 2000 crore was bid for Package C, which includes a non-exclusive digital rights deal. The auction, which is now on its third day, will resume with Package C on Tuesday, according to the report.
The 410 matches are divided into five years as follows: 74 matches each in 2023 and 2024. The number of games increases to 84 in 2025 and 2026 and 94 in 2027. According to the e-auction rules, the owners are given a secret code with which to bid. No BCCI officers or employees are aware of the bidding companies’ code.
