BCCI Media Rights tender is likely to be delayed further. The reason is BCCI is taking a wait-and-see approach for Zee-Sony merger. As Zee is settling its debts, the merger is taking longer than expected. BCCI’s home series rights deal with Disney-Star expired with the India vs Australia ODI series in March. Follow India Cricket LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises is currently in talks with creditors to pay off its debt as per Economic Times. Once the merger will complete, Zee-Sony will emerge as a $10 billion serious contender to Disney-Star and Viacom18. While the deal was set to be completed by March, it is taking longer than expected.
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Now, the BCCI Media Rights tender is expected only around June end or early July. The process will complete in about 30-45 days.
Hence, India vs Australia ODI series in September is likely to be the first tournament where the new rights holder comes in. But a decision on when to issue the tender is expected at the BCCI SGM in Ahmedabad on May 27.
India vs Afghanistan series in jeopardy:
However, BCCI’s wait-and-see approach has put India vs Afghanistan series in jeopardy. BCCI was supposed to find a temporary broadcaster for the short three-match ODI series in June. But now, the board is yet to finalise the bilateral series as the BCCI does not expect to gain full value for the series from a temporary broadcaster.
There are discussions with Afghanistan Cricket Board ongoing whether the ODI series can be converted into T20s. But no final decision on that has been taken yet.
The other possibility is to offer the series to Disney-Star as the broadcaster has already asked for a refund. Disney-Star has asked BCCI for a discount on the last media rights deal (valued at Rs 6138.1 crore ) due to lost revenue during the Covid-19 pandemic. BCCI had to cancel many home series due to lockdown restrictions.
The Indian board may offer that series as part of negotiations with Disney-Star. But that is only an idea at the moment and no formal discussion has taken place.
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