STAR India, Sony Pictures, Reliance Jio in race for BCCI media rights

Bidding for media rights to 102 matches, across 190 days, in 2018-23 cycle started with global consolidated bid of Rs 41.76 bn

The fight for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) media rights for the 2018-23 period has come down to three players — STAR India, Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and Reliance Jio. None of them managed to bid successfully on the first day, resulting in the auction being carried forward to April 4. 

The bidding for the media rights to 102 matches, across 190 days, in the 2018-23 cycle started with a global consolidated bid of Rs 41.76 billion. Since the BCCI had an e-auction, the bidders’ identity will not be disclosed till the conclusion of the process. The bids went up consistently from Rs 41.76 billion to Rs 44.42 billion at the end of the day. This is a nearly 15 per cent increase over the fee that STAR India was paying the BCCI for the 2012-18 cycle. 

The e-auction process, adopted for the first time for a sporting event globally, meant that the bidders could see the active bids, but not the names of the competitors. While Facebook, Google and YuppTv had shown an interest, they did not enter the bidding process. 

Three categories of rights have been put on sale by the BCCI – global television rights and rest of the world digital rights (GTVRD), digital rights for the Indian subcontinent (ID), and the global consolidated rights comprising worldwide TV and digital rights (GCR). If the global consolidated bid exceeds the sum of the GTVRD and the ID, then that bid wins. If not, the individual bids — global television, rest of the world (GTVRD) and India digital rights will be deemed winners. 

The base price for the GTVRD for the 2018-19 season is Rs 350 million, Rs 80 million for the ID and Rs 430 million for the global consolidated rights. For the 2019-2023 tenure, the base price for the GTVRD is Rs 330 million, for the ID is Rs 70 million and Rs 400 million for the GCR. 

In 2012, STAR India won the BCCI media rights till 2018 for Rs 38.51 billion. Last September, STAR India swept away the global media rights for the 2018-22 period for Rs 163.5 billion.

• Active bidders in the e-auction – Star India, Sony Pictures Network India and Reliance Jio
• Highest bid so far – Rs 44.42 billion
• Media Rights fee paid by Star India for 2012-18 period – Rs 38.51 billion (Rs 430 million per match)
• Number of matches in the rights tenure – 102 (22 tests, 42 ODIs and 38 twenty20 internationals)

      Source: BCCI, industry sources