Viacom 18 has bagged the digital rights while DisneyStar got the all-important TV rights for the Indian Premier League as far as the next five years are concerned, sources have confirmed. While rights to Package A (TV Rights) were secured in a whopping Rs 23,575 crore, which is effectively Rs 57.5 crore per game, Package B (Digital rights) was sealed by Reliance Industries-owned Viacom 18 at a price tag of Rs 20,500 crore, which effectively means 50 crore per match. Thus cumulatively the BCCI is now richer by Rs 44,075 crore after selling the two packages.
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Interestingly, the reserve price for both these categories was 49 crore and 33 crores, respectively. This sum is more than twice of what Star paid in 2017 which was INR 16,347.5 Cr, 54.5 crore per match, which was paid for 60 matches per year.
As reported earlier, the second day didn’t see any aggressive bidding with just one more bid coming in for TV rights while the digital package didn’t see a single bid which was already secured for 49 crore per match by Viacom on Sunday itself. Nonetheless, Star challenged Reliance-backed media conglomerate’s bid after which they came back with fresh bid worth 50 cr, enough to seal the deal.
The auction for Package C (Non-exclusive India digital rights) started Monday evening and will resume on Tuesday at 11 AM IST and will be followed by the auction of Package D (Rest of the World). The last bid for Package C was 18.5 Crore per match against the base prize of 16 crore.
Sources have also confirmed that Viacom 18 wants to acquire Package C to ensure there is no advertising revenue leakage.
“We are already reaching towards USD 5.5 billion mark after selling two packages. But digital rights per match value touching Rs 50 crore is massive. An incremental growth of 51 percent over and above base price is phenomenal,” a BCCI functionary told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
“The bidding stopped at 6 pm today and we are currently auctioning off package C, which has 98 games for five years in non-exclusive digital category. There are 18 in first two seasons followed by 20 in next two and 24 in the final season. It will be followed by package D, which is overseas rights for TV and digital.”
As per the norms of e-auction, the owners are given a secret code through which they bid. No BCCI office-bearers and employees have an inkling of the bidding companies’ code.
Package D, which has a base value of Rs 3 crore for overseas TV and digital rights, will have a strong contender in Zee, which is being headlined at the auction by former BCCI CEO Rahul Johri.
“If Johri and Zee can win Package D and if Sony has won package A, then the Zee-Sony partnership will usher a new beginning. But let’s wait till tomorrow,” a source involved in the auction process said.
(With Agencies)
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