Star India today (September 4) bagged the Indian Premier League (IPL) global media rights (both TV and digital) for a whopping Rs 16,347.50 crore (US $2.55 billion). This is for a five-year period, from 2018 to 2022.
Star outbid its rival Sony Pictures Network India on Monday. Sony had bid Rs 11,050 crore. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had invited bids for IPL media rights and 24 companies had shown interest as they had bought the tender document but only 14 bid.
For the Indian TV market, only Star and Sony were eligible in the bidding process, according to reports.
Here are the final figures for IPL Media Rights for the period from 2018-2022. #IPLMediaRights pic.twitter.com/2y1m0X4701
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 4, 2017
When IPL was launched in 2008, Sony had won the media rights for Rs 8,200 crore. It was for a 10-year period (2008 to 2017).
This time BCCI will earn Rs 3,269.5 per year after Star India's winning bid.
As per the latest winning bid, BCCI earns more per match from IPL than Team India's. Every Indian match played at home give BCCI nearly Rs 40 crore from Star, who hold the rights. Now, an IPL match will make the Indian cricket board richer by Rs 54.4 crore.
Every year, IPL hosts 60 matches. There are 8 teams in the fray.
Former commissioner of IPL, Lalit Modi said the brand deserved much more than the amount bid by Star. "So #StarSports wins global rights for @IPL I would've hoped a larger figure Deserved greater value after 10yrs of success #IPLMediaRights," he wrote on his Twitter page.
14 bids were received, earlier in the morning from beIN IP Ltd., Star India Pvt. Ltd., Followon Interactive Media Pvt. Ltd, Sony Pictures Networks Pvt. Ltd., Times Internet Ltd, Supersport International (Pty) Ltd., Reliance Jio Digital Services Pvt. Ltd., Gulf DTH FZ LLC, Econet Media Ltd., Facebook Inc., DAZN / Perform Group, Yupp TV, Airtel and BAM Tech.
C K Khanna, Acting President, BCCI said, "We are happy to announce Star India as our new Global Media and Digital partner. We thank all the bidders that participated in the process. We have ensured that transparency of the highest form was maintained throughout the process. I would like to thank cricketers and franchises for making the league one of the eminent sporting leagues in the world. I would also like to thank all the fans for showing their continuous support for the VIVO IPL for the last 10 years."
Amitabh Choudhary, Acting Secretary, BCCI said, "We welcome Star India on board as our broadcast and digital partner. Cricket as a sport has evolved over the years, and today's bids were a reiteration of VIVO IPL's growing global popularity."
Uday Shankar, Chairman & CEO, Star India, "We are honoured to be selected as IPL's Global Media Rights Partner and we thank BCCI for conducting such a transparent process. The VIVO Indian Premier League is undoubtedly one of the most exciting sporting leagues in the world and this acquisition of media rights reaffirms our commitment to serve cricket fans and make cricket even bigger than it is. We are delighted that in Star, IPL has found its natural home. We look forward to bringing this exciting format to our audiences across the world in a quality that all our viewers are accustomed to both on television as well as on digital on Hotstar.
Uday Shankar further added, "At Star India, we believe that Indian sports have barely scratched the surface of its potential. Both the viewership of sports and more importantly participation in sports is something that we would like to grow substantially over the next few years. The acquisition of these rights is symbolic of our commitment to not just cricket but to the growth of a wider sports culture in the country."
Rahul Johri, CEO, BCCI said, "We are grateful to the Supreme Court, the Committee of Administrators and the office bearers of BCCI. We are also thankful to Deloitte and our Legal partners Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas for their support in carrying out a fair and transparent bidding process efficiently. We would like to welcome Star India on board as our IPL Global Media and Digital partner, we believe this is a global benchmark and all the stakeholders of IPL will significantly benefit from this association with Star India."
