Disney-Star to Viacom18, top broadcasters vie for women's IPL media rights

Viacom18, Sony-Zee, Disney-Star among companies to pick up bid documents

Broadcasters Disney-Star, Viacom18 and Sony-Zee are among a clutch of companies who have picked up bid documents for the upcoming media rights auction of the women’s Indian Premier League (IPL) for the 2023-27 cycle, say officials at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Some of the others who have also expressed interest and picked up the tender documents for the auction, to be held on January 16, include Amazon Prime Video, FanCode (part of the Dream11 group) and Times Internet, say persons in the know.

These companies picked up bid documents for the men’s IPL e-auction, held in June last year. At that time, the media rights were sold for Rs 48,390 crore over five years (2023-27) involving 410 matches. The per-match value worked out to Rs 118 crore, making the men’s IPL the second-most valued sporting property, according to BCCI secretary Jay Shah.

Participants in the upcoming media rights auction for the Women's IPL, on the other hand, will submit their bids in sealed envelopes on January 16. The bids will be opened on the same day, BCCI sources say, to ensure transparency.

Unlike the men’s IPL, the BCCI has not set a reserve price for media rights of the women’s IPL, since this is the first time a women’s cricket league will be organised in the country.

Globally, the Big Bash League in Australia has both men’s and women’s editions.

The BCCI, according to industry sources, is eyeing about Rs 1,100-1,250 crore from the sale of media rights for the five-year period, which is about Rs 220-250 crore annually.

This translates into per-match earnings of about Rs 10-11 crore for BCCI since there are 22 matches in the inaugural edition. For five years, the total number of matches in the women's IPL works out to 110.

“My sense is that interest among broadcasters would be high (for the women’s IPL), given that women’s cricket has been growing in India,” said Sajal Gupta, chief executive officer at Gurugram-based Kiaos Marketing. “Broadcasters would want to invest now to capitalise on the momentum it will gain in the future,” he said.

Karan Taurani, senior vice-president, research at Mumbai-based brokerage Elara Capital, said a women’s IPL will bring greater visibility to women’s cricket. “The ecosystem around women’s IPL will take time to be built because this is the first time it is happening in the country. At least an IPL-style format in women’s cricket would get brands interested in investing in the tournament, which will help women’s cricket in the long run,” he said.

The BCCI is also likely to use the media rights auction as a potential benchmark for the auction of team franchises for the women’s IPL, which is slated for later this month.

Last week, India’s cricket governing board invited bids to acquire the rights to own and operate a women’s IPL team without setting a reserve price for the auction. The last date to buy the tender documents is January 21, and the bidding will be held on January 25, BCCI sources said.

GROWING INTEREST 

• Country’s top broadcasters are keen to invest in women’s IPL; have picked up tender documents for upcoming media rights auction 
• BCCI is looking at Rs 10-11 crore per match in terms of earnings for women’s IPL media rights over five years 
• Bids for women’s IPL media rights likely to touch Rs 220-250 crore per year or Rs 1,100-1,250 for five years; men’s IPL had attracted bids worth Rs 48,390 crore for five years