IPL media rights auction concludes; value stays at Rs 43,050 crore

The per-match value for IPL has touched $13.5 million (or Rs 105 cr), which is second only to America's National Football League, which costs a broadcaster $17 million (Rs 132.26 crore) per match

The auction for the digital and television rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has concluded within an hour of the resumption of the bidding process on Monday. A decision was taken after bidding was opened at 11 am, persons in the know said. Bidders agreed, said sources, to conclude the auction for the digital and TV rights (packages A and B) after a fierce fight on Sunday, which took the combined value (of TV/digital) past the Rs 43,000-crore mark.

This had increased the value of the rights by over two-and-a-half times the previous rights value of Rs 16,347.5 crore, paid by Disney-Star in 2017. 

It is already Rs 10,000 crore more than the reserve price of nearly Rs 33,000 crore set by the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) for the current media rights cycle. 

Also, the per-match value of the IPL has touched $13.5 million (or Rs 105 crore) after bidding closed on Sunday at 6 pm. This is second only to America's National Football League, which costs a broadcaster $17 million (Rs 132.26 crore) per match. The English Premier League costs $11 million (Rs 85.58 crore) per match.

While the e-auction platform does not allow participants to see who is placing bids, reliable sources have said that Disney-Star, Sony Pictures Networks India and Viacom18 had set their sights on the TV rights for the Indian subcontinent for all games (package A). For digital rights for the Indian sub-continent (package B), Zee competed with Disney+ Hotstar and Jio, part of the Reliance-backed Viacom18 combine.

The TV rights are estimated to have touched Rs 57 crore per match at the end of day one of the e-auction, higher than the Rs 49 crore per match set by the BCCI as the base price. Digital rights stood at Rs 48 crore per match at the end of bidding on Sunday, persons in the know said. This is 45 per cent higher than the Rs 33 crore per match set by the cricketing body before the e-auction.

To put things in perspective, Disney-Star had bagged the combined digital and TV rights for the IPL in 2017 for Rs 16,347.50 crore. The per-match value stood at Rs 54.5 crore, with the broadcaster coughing up Rs 3,269 crore per year.