From once paying the national channel to broadcast cricket to earning millions every game, the BCCI has come a long way (1:19)
The rights to broadcast Indian cricket on television and digital platforms from 2018 to 2023 has been sold for INR 6138 crore (USD 944 million approx.), an increase of 59% from the previous cycle of rights which were sold for INR 3851 crore (USD 750 million at the time) for the period 2012-18.
The BCCI has not yet revealed which company won the rights at the e-auction that spanned three days. Sony Pictures Network India, Star India and Reliance were the bidders when the e-auction began at 2pm on Tuesday, after the BCCI’s legal team had carried out technical and feasibility checks. It is learned that the winning bid came in the global consolidated rights (GCR) category, which includes worldwide television and digital rights
The sale of these rights mean a second huge payday for the BCCI in less than a year. In September 2017, the BCCI had sold the worldwide IPL television and digital rights for the period 2018-22 for INR 16,347.5 crore (US$ 2.55 billion) to Star India. The average cost per match for the Indian cricket rights sold on Thursday is about INR 60 cr, which is higher than the average cost per IPL game for the 2018-22 period – INR 54.5 cr.
Once the e-auction restarted on Thursday morning, participants had 30 minutes to raise after every bid, unlike on Tuesday and Wednesday, when they had an hour after every bid to make a higher bid. The process continued until participants indicated that they did not wish to bid higher. There were three categories of rights on sale: the Indian television rights and rest of the world digital rights (GTVRD), digital rights for the Indian subcontinent alone (ID), and the global consolidated rights (GCR).
The successful bidder gets to telecast 102 men’s international matches over the five-year period, compared to 96 in the previous six-year cycle from 2012 to 2018. The 102 matches will be split among the home seasons as follows: 18 in 2018-19, 26 in 2019-20, 14 in 2020-21, 23 in 2021-22 and 21 in 2022-23. The rights will also include men’s domestic matches as well as the India women’s international matches.
The e-auction had begun at 2pm IST on Tuesday, and the process closed at 6pm that day with highest bid at INR 4442 crores (USD 680 million approx.) The bidding resumed at 11am on Wednesday and ended at 6pm at INR 6032.50 crore (USD 925 million approx). On Thursday, the bids rose in smaller increments: INR 6061.05 cr, INR 6085.30 cr, INR 6111.70 cr, INR 6111.70 cr, and finally INR 6138 cr.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo