IPL media rights auction: Bid amount nearing Rs 50,000-crore mark

IPL media rights auction: Though tech giants Amazon, Google and Apple have pulled out of the race, there appears to be no impact so far on the overall value of the bids being made

The e-auction for the Indian Premier League's (IPL’s) media rights is currently underway and the combined bid for both digital and TV is nearing the Rs 45,000-50,000-crore mark, according to people in the know.

The e-auction began on Sunday morning, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selling the media rights for the IPL for a five-year period from 2023-2027.

There are four specific packages in which the e-auction is being held for 74 games per season. There is a provision, however, of increasing the number of matches to 94 games in the final two years of the marquee T20 tournament.

The four groups include he Package A, which has Indian sub-continent exclusive TV (broadcast) rights, while Package B covers digital rights for Indian sub-continent.

Package C is for selected games in each season, while Package D is for all games combined — TV and digital rights — for overseas markets.

Though tech giants Amazon, Google and Apple have pulled out of the race, there appears to be no impact on the overall value of the bids coming in from players such as Disney-Star, Sony and Viacom18, who are fighting aggressively for package A and B, informed sources said. The winner will be announced on Monday.

The per match bid price, for instance, is already estimated to have crossed Rs 100 crore, which is significant, experts said.

Unlike the previous cycle, which was a closed bidding in 2017, th e-auction allows bidders to exit the process at any stage.

The methodology is simple - place a greater bid than the existing one or exit. However, industry experts say the bidders will have to do their research to determine how high they can go with their bids.