Zee-Sony merger incomplete, Disney-Star, Viacom18 fight for BCCI Media Rights

After a lot of waiting and speculations, the BCCI Media Rights tender is all set to come out on Tuesday. While there were speculations that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was waiting for the Zee-Sony merger to happen before releasing the tender, it is already too late. Hence, the tender will be out and with a lot at stake after the IPL media rights deal, top broadcasters will fight it out. The usual suspects Disney Star (Star Sports, Hotstar), Viacom18 (Sports 18, JioCinema) and Sony (Sony Ten, SonyLIV) besides Zee & FanCode will compete for TV & Digital rights separately for a five-year period.

Also Read: BCCI Media Rights Tender to be out by Tuesday, new broadcaster by August 19

The month-long process is likely to steer yet another bidding war among all players. The BCCI are expecting a windfall following their Rs 48,390 Cr sale of the IPL media rights. With previous BCCI broadcast deals being four years long, the new tender will be floated for 5 years. This means the winning party will have rights for all Indian bilateral games at home and domestic cricket matches until 2028.

Who are top contenders & why?

Disney-Star (Star Sports, Hotstar): With IPL gone from Star Sports, Disney-Star needs India cricket digital rights to stay competitive. Indian home matches make more sense now with HBO too leaving Disney+Hotstar.

Viacom18 (Sports 18, JioCinema): Viacom has a lot of offerings for Digital. But what they lack is India cricket team content on TV. To boost TV viewership, Viacom will be desperate to land the TV rights at least.

Sony (Sony Ten, SonyLIV): Apart from UEFA Champions League and UFC and England cricket rights, Sony has lost lost its footing in India. To revive both TV and Digital platforms, Sony needs India cricket.

Zee: With merger with Sony still pending, Zee will be hoping to land the rights and then merge to boost the platforms.

FanCode: Not a new player anymore. With some good sports properties on the streaming platform, FanCode has steadily grown. If they can outbid the formidable opponents for digital rights, the platform can be a force to reckon with.

Highlights of BCCI Media Rights Tender:

• The new deal will be for 5 years as is the case for IPL.
• Both digital and TV rights will be separate as there has been an upward trend in digital.
• There is likely to be an e-auction instead of a closed bidding process.
• BCCI had a windfall of Rs 48,390 Cr from sale of IPL Media Rights. It had TV rights and Digital rights separate.
• The exact number of matches that will come under the new deal is still under discussion.
• But it is likely that the deal will include 100 bilateral matches.
• In the new cycle, there will be more number T20s and less number of ODIs as there has been a lack of interest from the audience in ODIs.

Disney-Star paid Rs 6138.10 Crore for 103 matches last time out. It made per match valuation of Rs 61 Cr. However, as the rights will be separate, BCCI expects upward of Rs 12,000 Crore. The IPL digital rights were sold for a cumulative amount of Rs 23,758 crore while the TV rights for the Indian subcontinent were sold for Rs 23, 575 crore for 410 matches over a period of 5 years.

Disney Star, Viacom 18 main players

Viacom18 over the past couple of years have disrupted the market completely dominated by Disney Star. Viacom took the digital rights for IPL and is expected to be one of the major challengers to Star’s bid to retain BCCI rights. Star however still managed to hold onto the broadcast rights for the IPL.

Given that BCCI Media Rights is one of the biggest properties on offer, both parties will not hold their horses. BCCI meanwhile will relish the competition as they add to their IPL windfall. It is expected that the per-match valuation is likely to surpass Rs 100 crore.

Bid now, merge later? The Zee-Sony conundrum

Sony was expected to be a major player for the BCCI media rights considering their impending merger with Zee. It is believed that BCCI delayed releasing a tender in the hope that a consolidated Sony Zee bid arrives. While the merger has been delayed, expect Sony to still feature in the race. Sony, who has the ECB and SLC rights, ran Viacom18 close in the IPL rights bid.

Zee themselves could launch a significant bid during the entire process. BCCI is expected to continue with their e-auction model and not a closed bid process. In such a scenario, both Zee and Sony can launch separate bids and merge later. The financial burden and the technical aspects of the same could all be shared between the two parties.

The sale of the rights is expected to be complete by August 19 with the new broadcaster getting on board for IND vs AUS ODI series before World Cup 2023. The BCCI are currently without a broadcaster since the agreement with Star lapsed in march. The Indian Cricket board has since live streamed Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy on bcci.tv

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