Seven firms in the race for Indian Premier League TV rights

BCCI last raised the stakes in the IPL, selling its media broadcast rights across television and digital for India and the rest of the world in excess of Rs 16,347 cr, they’re back to the auction table toup the game. Moving away from the long-held practice to call for closed bids, BCCI has opted for an e-auction for the first time ever. The e-auction began at 11am on Sunday. A total of 12 companies had picked up the Invitation To Tender (ITT) less than two months ago and seven – Viacom-led JV, Disney+Hotstar, Culver Max Entertainment earlier, Sony Pictures), Zee Group, Supersport, Times Internet and Fun Asia – have decided to come to the bidding table. These potential bidders submitted their technical bids in Mumbai on Friday and have been cleared to log-in on Sunday morning when the e-auction begins. E-commerce and digital streaming giants Amazon were also among the 12 companies to pick the ITT but, despite speculation that they would bid heavily for digital rights, have decided to stay away.

On Friday, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s office took the call to not bid for the rights and the same was conveyed to officials of the BCCI and did not turn up to submit the technical bids. BCCI, however, is unperturbed by Amazon’s decision to stay away. With traditional rivals Disney+Hotstar and Culver Max (Sony) in the fray, Viacom-led JV looking to enter the space, Zee Group looking to return to Indian cricket broadcast after a long gap and a keen interest from global digital / TV players like Times Internet, SuperSport and FunAsia, the board believes “this will be a top-dollar exercise”. The BCCI had earlier asked the bidders to consider an average of 74 matches per season for five years – 370 matches. However, post clarifications,