The Hindu Business Line : Bombay HC rejects interim relief to Sony on IPL

Mumbai, March 23 With the Bombay High Court refusing to give interim relief to Sony on the broadcasting rights for IPL, the field could now be open to any broadcaster to bid for the money-spinning tournament.

Sony had moved the court last week after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) terminated the contract with it and entered into a new contract with the Mauritius arm of the World Sports Group (WSG) for the forthcoming season of the IPL Twenty20 cricket tournament. And on Monday, the Court refused to grant interim relief to Sony in its row over IPL’s broadcasting rights.

BCCI’s relations with Sony had soured after it accused the latter of violating its contract, and one of the issues was losing out on a Rs 137-crore ground sponsorship deal with the Reliance-ADAG-owned Big TV. The official broadcaster had, in fact, gone ahead and signed an exclusive on-air deal with Bharti Airtel without offering the first right of refusal to Big TV.

The Court development comes even as IPL’s top brass had announced, on Sunday, that they would take the games to a new venue, possibly England or South Africa, given the security concerns in India.

Less time

Meanwhile, industry observers are of the view that BCCI has very little time left to sell the telecast rights to a completely new broadcaster as Sony must have already struck some sponsorship deals with companies such as DLF (the current title sponsor), Hero Honda and Coca Cola (associate sponsor for Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Dare Devils). Further, they observed that there could still be backroom activity between the IPL management and its currently estranged telecast partners.

While there are names of other broadcasters such as ESPN and NDTV that are doing the rounds, the likelihood of either of them bagging the rights seems remote considering there is so less time left for the IPL matches to begin. Speaking for itself, an ESPN official said: “The channel has already out spent itself buying the expensive rights of properties like the Champions League T-20 and the ICC rights and at this stage, its budgets might be a little squeezed. The channel cannot afford to continue losing money. However, between ESPN and NDTV, the former stands a better chance being sports channel, as it possibly has the experience to put an event fast enough.”

Besides, it would get difficult to shift sponsorships of big spenders such as DLF, Hero Honda and Vodafone who have already committed to Sony in the past. “There is always a possibility of sponsors and advertisers switching loyalties but at the moment, there is very little time to do. The matter will be sorted out and IPL will be back with Sony as it already has a deal in place,” adds another employee from a sports channel.