It’s almost like a star player, who’s expected to perform on the big stage, retiring hurt from the game even before the first ball was bowled or the players reached the field.

The expectant viewers, waiting for some nail-biting times during the game, are now left a bit dejected. But then, as they say in cricket, the game’s not over till the last ball is bowled.

The much-anticipated duel between Jeff Bezos and Mukesh Ambani for acquisition of one of world’s costliest sporting properties won’t materialise now as the American tech giant pulled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket media rights bidding, scheduled to start Sunday.

Reliance Industries Limited-owned Viacom18 is considered to be one of the strongest contenders both in TV and digital space.

“Yes, Amazon is out of the race. They didn’t join the technical bidding process today. As far as Google (YouTube) is concerned, they had picked up the bid document, but didn’t submit it. As of now, 10 companies (TV and streaming) are in fray,” a senior official of Indian cricket board BCCI told PTI on conditions of anonymity on Friday.

Bloomberg too reported yesterday on similar lines stating the US giant’s withdrawal from the bidding process leaves the field open for other contenders with Reliance Group (through Viacom18) having a clear edge.

Quoting people familiar with the developments, the Bloomberg report explained that while Amazon.com Inc. has already invested more than $6 billion in India, more spending merely for the online streaming rights to the league didn’t make business sense.

Bezos-funded Amazon was expected to be one of the biggest bidders in digital space but pulled out of the race without revealing the reason. Indianbroadcastingworld.com could not independently verify the moves made by Amazon, which recently bid for an American sporting property at the rate of $ 1 billion per year till 2023.

“Let’s make it clear, the Viacom18 JV (Joint Venture), current rights holder Walt Disney (Star), Zee and Sony are the four contenders for the packages with solid footprints in both TV and digital market,” the BCCI official was quoted in the PTI news dispatch.

Some of the other contenders, primarily for digital space, according to PTI, are: Times Internet, FunAsia, Dream11, FanCode; Sky Sports (UK) and SuperSport (South Africa) will be vying for overseas TV and digital rights.

The last time, Star India bought rights for both TV and digital with a composite bid of Rs 16,347.50 crore (approximately $ 2.6 billion), but this time the composite base price is more than Rs 32,000 crore.

There are four specific packages in which e-auction will be conducted for 74 games per season for a five-year period from 2023-2027 with a provision of increasing the number of matches to 94 in the final two years.

Package A has Indian sub-continent exclusive TV (broadcast) rights, while Package B covers digital rights for Indian sub-continent. Package C is for 18 selected games in each season for digital space, while Package D (all games) will be for combined TV and digital rights for overseas markets.

All bidders will have to make separate bids for each package, this time.

As of Friday, some of the big players who are involved with the bidding process, feel that Rs 45,000 crore (USD 5.8 billion approximately) is the amount that BCCI could expect, which will be a two-and-a-half times increase in valuation.

A recent Elara Capital report on IPL and its various aspects, including comparison with valuations of other global pro leagues like NHL, NFL, and MLB, predicted the IPl media rights could fetch BCCI up to $ 6-7 billion.

Here’s a ‘Ready Reckoner’ for IPL Media Rights

Q: What are the dates of the media rights auction?

A:  It is expected to be for two days: June 12 and 13.

Q: What is the period of IPL media rights?

A:  The period is for five years from 2023-2027.

Q: Number of matches per season?

A:  It is 74 with provision of going up to 94 in the last two seasons.

Q: What is the current valuation of IPL media rights?

A:  Rs 16,347.50 crore for both TV and Digital with Star India.

Q: What are the packages on offer?

A:  A: TV Rights for Indian sub-continent at Rs 49 crore per game.
B:  Digital Rights for Indian sub-continent at Rs 33 cr per game.
C:  18-match, non-exclusive digital package at Rs 11 crore per game.
D: Overseas TV and Digital Rights at Rs 3 cr per game.

Q: What is the composite base price for all packages?

A: Total composite base price for all four packages is Rs 32,440 cr.

Package A is Rs 18,130 cr (74x49x5)
Package B is Rs 12,210 cr (74x33x5)
Package C is Rs 990cr (18x11x5)
Package D is Rs 1110cr (74x3x5)

Q:  Which are major companies bidding?

A: There are 10 companies in fray: Viacom18 JV (joint venture) with Lupa Systems (Uday Shankar and James Murdoch), Walt Disney (Star), Zee, Sony (both India media and digital rights). Times Internet, Fan Code, FunAsia, Dream11 (only digital rights).SuperSport (South Africa) and Sky Sports (UK) vying for Overseas TV and Digital rights.

Q: Can one entity make a composite bid like Star did last time?

A:  No. Every package will be awarded to the highest bidder. For example, Facebook had presented the highest digital bid for Rs 3900 crore in 2017, but Star grabbed the rights with a huge composite bid despite a lower digital bid.

Q: Can one entity get two packages?

A: Yes, that is possible. Suppose, if Star has the highest bid for India TV rights (Package A) for an ‘x’ amount and Sony places the highest bid for India digital rights for ‘y’ amount, both the companies can challenge each other in a tie-breaker.

Q: Which package could see a close fight?

A: Package C, which has non-exclusive rights for 18 games that include opening game, final, three play-offs and a few weekend double headers. All major players (Viacom, Zee, Sony, Star) would like to own this digital package. If a company wins India digital rights and loses out on non-exclusive rights, then it loses out on massive revenue (advertisement plus subscriptions) for those 18 games, which can be accessed at any other platforms. Companies would like to buy it to kill competition.

Q: What is the type of auction that is being held?

A:  Just like last time, it will be an e-auction where companies can raise their bid by Rs. 50 crore at one go. E-auction is transparent but time- consuming.

Q: What is the kind of money expected by the BCCI?

A: The BCCI is expecting that over and above their Rs 32,440 crore composite base price, it could earn another 12,000 to 12,500 crore which may take the valuation up to Rs 45,000 crore.