The Indian cricket board BCCI on Tuesday reaffirmed its status as a cricketing behemoth by securing one of the biggest broadcast deals in the history of the sport, fetching an eye-popping Rs. 48,390 crore (USD 6.2 billion) through IPL media rights for a five-year period, starting 2023.

Having lost the India digital and partial global rights to Viacom18 (whose strategy was apparently spearheaded by former Disney APAC head Uday Shankar), Disney’s head for international content and operations Rebecca Campbell has hinted that Star will be vying for other multi-platform cricket rights, while BCCI Secretary Jay Shah announced IPL would have a two-and-a-half month window in ICC’s next FTP cycle, which could translate into more time for media rights holders to try monetise the property.

According to a PTI report, while Disney Star retained the India sub-continent TV rights by paying Rs 23,575 crore (Rs 57.5 crore/game), the most sought-after India digital rights deal was acquired for Rs 20,500 crore by the Reliance and Bodhi Tree-backed Viacom18, which also won the non-exclusive Package C of 18 matches by paying Rs 2,991 crore more.

The deal for Package A and B (TV and Digital) is for 410 matches across five years with 74 matches each in 2023 and 2024 and 84 each in 2025 and 2026. The 2027 edition will have 94 games. The Package ‘D’ for overseas rights for various regions was bagged by Viacom18 and Times Internet.

Viacom18 entered the fray through a consortium which boasted of Shankar-James Murdoch combine in it.

”I am thrilled to announce that STAR India wins India TV rights with their bid of Rs 23,575 crores. The bid is a direct testimony to the BCCI’s organisational capabilities despite two pandemic years,” BCCI Secretary Jay Shah tweeted.

”Viacom18 bags digital rights with its winning bid of Rs 23,758 cr. India has seen a digital revolution & the sector has endless potential. The digital landscape has changed the way cricket is watched. It has been a big factor in the growth of the game & the Digital India vision” Shah added, exulting that since its inception, IPL has been “synonymous with growth” with brand IPL touching a new high with e-auction resulting in Rs. 48,390 crore value.

“IPL is now the 2nd most valued sporting league in the world in terms of per match value,” the BCCI secretary said.

The IPL, in terms of sheer valuation, will now be bracketed in the top-most sporting properties alongside National Football League (USA), NBA and English Premier League football, the most watched sporting events in the world.

The value of per IPL match made more than a 100 per cent jump from previous Rs 54.5 crore to above Rs 114 crore (approx). Globally, the per match value (USD 14.61 million) in IPL is second only to NFL where every match is worth USD 17 million.

The new deal also ends the monopoly of a single broadcaster. Sony Entertainment (now called Culver Max) had acquired the rights by paying Rs 8,200 crore for the first 10 years (2008-17), while Star, with a bid price of Rs. 16347.50 (USD 2.1 approx) won it for the next five years. The then bid of Star, helmed by Shankar, was dubbed outrageous, but it helped streaming platform  Hotstar (now called Disney+Hotstar) draw in susbcribers in double digit of millions.

There was a also a Package C, where digital rights of 18 non-exclusive marquee games per season were up for grabs, and Viacom18 won it with a winning bid of Rs 2991.6 crore at the rate of Rs 33.24 crore per match.

There are 90 matches in this package. Package D with a base price of Rs 3 crore per game with overseas TV and Digital rights on offer was sold for more than Rs. 1,300 crore to Viacom18 and Times Internet.

If one looks at the transformation, in 2008, it was 90 percent of linear coverage (TV) compared to a miniscule 10 percent in digital space.

In 2018, when Star won the rights, the TV-Digital ratio was 75:25. But the new deal has given digital space more than 51 percent share in broadcast footprint.

Having lost the digital rights to Viacom18, Campbell in a statement hinted that Star will be vying for other multi-platform cricket rights.

”We will be exploring other multi-platform cricket rights, including future rights for ICC and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which we currently hold through the 2023 and 2024 seasons, respectively,” she said.

People Exult Over IPL Bids: Celebs and general hoi-polloi mostly went ga-ga over the way the IPL media rights auctions had gone.

BCCI Presidnet Sourav Ganguly tweeted: “Congratulartions to Star, Viacom(18), times internet for putting their might in getting the auction to new heights..Indian cricket fans you make this happen @JayShah @ThakurArunS @BCCI @IPL.”

Former circketr and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar, who also got trolled Monday and Tuesday over his observation, had tweeted: “The IPL auction revealing the obvious. The might of the Indian economy! And as Indians, let us be proud of it! #IPLAuction.”

Another c ommentator, Harsha Bhogle, said, “To put it in perspective, the [Rs.] 3273cr that Viacom has paid out only to secure exclusivity for those additional 18 games (though over 5 years) is what Star was paying for all the rights per year. #IPLMediaRights.”

Former cricketer and commentary box regular Akash Chopra said, “IPL becomes the second most lucrative sporting property in the world. Wow. That’s when India is a ‘developing country’ and is apparently, not a ‘sporting nation’ either. The potential of our nation is limitless. Extremely proud. Jai Hind.”

Journalist and columnist cruncher Andy Mukherjee, however, did admit that despite the eye-popping prices paid for by bidders, especially Viacom18 (for digital rights in India and part global), it would be hard to make money.

Writing an opinion piece in Bloomberg, Mukherjee observed: “The headline-grabbing figure is the value bidders put on the streaming package, which is now worth as much as IPL on television. A big part of the credit for that catch-up goes to Ambani. His 4G Jio network disrupted the Indian telecom market with cheap data, acquiring more than 410 million customers since its launch in 2016.

“As Jio subscribers burn through their plans to watch cricket on their mobile devices, Ambani’s carriage business will get an automatic lift from his investment in content. After a tariff increase, the telecom users are finally paying him a little more than $2 a month; if he can get another $1 — by luring them with cricket and keeping them for other entertainment — his $38 billion-a-year consumer empire could bulk up some more.

“Even so, it won’t be easy to make money on this new investment at a time when surging inflation is crimping discretionary spending. That’s where the former 21st Century Fox executive Uday Shankar comes in.”

Actor and co-owner of Punjab IPL franchisee Preity G Zinta, said before the conclusion of the auction: “Waiting to hear the  BCCI announce the new #Iplmediarights. What an incredible sports property #IPL has become! Employing thousands & entertaining billions across the globe, it’s dwarfing all other sports leagues by its incredible growth & it’s completely Made In India.”

Former Indian women’s cricket captain and legend Mithali Raj said: “Women’s IPL will propel the growth of women’s cricket in our country”

Analyst Kaushik Vaidya tweeted: “So, the #IPLMediaRights stay with the house @ushanx built, and the one he will (help) build. Challenge for both will be to stay in the black while bringing yet newer experiences to the audience each year.”