IPL: Disney Star Retains TV Rights, Viacom18 Bags Digital

After two days of intense bidding, Disney Star India has retained the TV rights and Viacom18 has won the digital rights for the 2023-2027 cycle of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has amassed Rs 46,000 crore from the e-auction, with Package A (TV rights for Indian sub-continent) and Package B ( digital rights for Indian sub-continent) fetching Rs 44,075 crore. Bids for Package C rights have already touched Rs 1800 crore. The Package A rights were retained by Disney Star India for Rs 23,575 crore while Viacom18 has snatched the digital rights with a winning bid of Rs 20,500 crore. Having won Package A, Disney Star challenged Viacom18 in another round of bidding for digital rights. However, Viacom18 retained the digital rights despite aggressive bidding by Disney Star which saw the per match value of Package B hitting Rs 50 crore.

Disney Star is paying Rs 57.5 crore per match for the Package A rights. Overall, the Package A and Package B rights will fetch BCCI a cumulative sum of Rs 107.5 crore per match.

"Star has retained Indian TV rights of IPL for the next five years while Viacom18 has got the digital rights. The combined per match value only from Indian TV and digital rights per game is 107.5 crore. With these bids, monopoly of one broadcaster in IPL ends," a senior BCCI functionary told PTI.

BCCI is expected to make a formal announcement about the winners today.

With Package A and B winners decided, the focus has shifted to Package C rights which comprise the 98 non-exclusive games. The number of non-exclusive games will be 18 if the total number of matches being played is 74. If the number of matches increases to 94 then the number of matches constituting the special package matches will be 22.

Package C includes the opening match, playoff matches, and double-header matches which are scheduled to start between 7 pm and 9 pm.

At the end of the second day of e-auction, Package C had received bids worth Rs 1813 crore. The per match value has gone up to Rs 18.5 crore on a base price of Rs 16 crore. Package C will have a total of 98 matches during the rights cycle.

Disney Star is once again locked in a battle with Viacom18 for the Package C rights. Once the winner for Package C is decided, Viacom18 being the winner of Package B rights will have an option to offer a 5% higher rights fee than the highest bid price for Package C.

Having lost out on the exclusive digital rights package, Disney Star will go all out for the Package C rights, since IPL has been a key driver of subscriber growth for Disney+ Hotstar, which boasts of a paid subscriber base of over 50 million.

On the other hand, Viacom18 would want to ensure that the Package C rights don't go to a rival. Winning Package C rights will ensure that the IPL matches can only be viewed on Viacom18's digital platforms.

It's not clear if Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), which has lost out to Disney Star and Viacom18, will bid for Package C. The e-auction will spill over to the third day with bidding for Package C and D rights.

Package D rights include five territory groupings. This package will see interest from international players like Sky Sports and SuperSport. Times Internet, which has a presence in the US through Willow Cricket, is also in the fray.

Territory Grouping A includes TV and digital rights for the Rest of Asia, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Central and Southern America, Israel, and New Zealand. Territory Grouping B includes the Middle East and North Africa. Territory Grouping C comprises South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Territory Grouping D includes the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and Continental Europe. The Territory Grouping E comprises TV and digital rights for the United States of America.