It's sold! Viacom18, Star India bag IPL media rights for whopping Rs 48,390 cr

The 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 ($6.20 billion) through IPL media rights for a five-year period, starting 2023.

While Disney Star retained their Indian sub-continent TV rights with a figure of 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 backed Viacom18, which also won the non-exclusive Package C, paying another Rs 2991 crore.

The deal for package A and B 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.

Viacom18 entered the fray through a consortium which has former Star India head Uday Shankar (Bodhi Tree) and James Murdoch (Lupa Systems) 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.

"Since its inception, the IPL has been synonymous with growth & today is a red-letter day for India Cricket, with Brand IPL touching a new high with e-auction resulting in Rs 48,390 cr value. IPL is now the 2nd most valued sporting league in the world in terms of per match value," Shah added.

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

The new deal also ends the monopoly of a single broadcaster. Sony had acquired the rights by paying Rs 8200 crore for the first 10 years (2008-17) while Star with a bid price of Rs 16347.50 won it for the next five years.

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 1300 crore to Viacom18 and Times Internet.

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 ($14.61 million) in IPL is second only to NFL where every match is worth $17 million.