MONEY MATTERS

Online war for Indian cricket rights hots up

by K Shriniwas Rao • Last updated on

Facebook had made a massive INR 3900 Crore bid for IPL digital rights last year. © Getty

Social network giant Facebook and search giant Google will face stiff competition from the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited and Hotstar, the Indian digital and media entertainment platform, as the 'war' for Indian cricket's online rights for the next five years heats up the following week.

The BCCI postponed the e-auction of bilateral rights from March 27 to April 3, taking time to send out necessary clarifications to those who had picked up the tender document. The Invitation To Tender (ITT) for the rights period between April 2018 to March 2023 (five years) was floated on February 20.

BCCI has done away with the mandatory deferment of telecast on TV and digital platforms. The auction will be held for the following packages: A) Global Television Rights plus ROW Digital Rights Package; B) Indian Subcontinent Digital Rights Package; C) Global Consolidated Rights Package.

The base price for the digital rights for the first of five years per match has been pegged at INR 8 Crore and for the next four years at INR 7 Crore per match. The base price for the television rights for the first year is INR 35 Crore per match and INR 33 Crore per match for the next four years.

Facebook, currently in the middle of a political storm for the data harvesting "scam", had made a massive INR 3900 Crore bid for the Indian Premier League (IPL) digital rights last year - the highest bid in that particular category - but lost out only because of Star India's consolidated INR 16,347.5 Crore winning bid.

Soon after Facebook's surprising bid for cricket rights - a sport that American markets are only waking up to right now - media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who let go of the control 21st Century Fox to Walt Disney Company in what was reported to be the 'deal of the century', said Facebook's IPL bid had made him look at the India sports rights market in new light.

The market now expects Facebook to come better prepared as the latter surveys the various packages on offer where the cricket rights are concerned.

Alternately, with Facebook TV looking to make a mark, Google thriving on the video platform through Youtube, Jio Infocomm launching an interactive Cricket Channel on JioTV App and Hotstar being an offshoot of Star India's flourishing television market, sources in the cricket industry say "don't be surprised if these digital giants have bigger plans than merely bidding for the internet rights".

Star TV and Sony Pictures Network (SPN) can once again be expected to remain front-runners for the global television rights.

Google was said to be in the running for the IPL digital rights last year, only to be fronted by a leading Indian mobile network company.

This time, Google has picked up the tender document and is expected to make a serious attempt on its own.

South Asia content provider Yupp TV, founded by Uday Reddy, has also picked up the tender document, making for a total of six contenders.

© TNN