Rupert Murdoch's Star has outbid Sony to bag the broadcast and digital media rights from the Board of Control for Cricket in India for Rs 3,851 crore.

The six-year contract covers 96 matches in India, at an average price of Rs 40 crore per match — up from Rs 32.25 crore received from the previous rights holder, Nimbus Communications. “This is a substantial improvement for us,” said Mr N. Srinivasan, President, BCCI.

The contract begins with the New Zealand tour of India in August, followed by England's visit. Apart from international matches in India, the contract also covers domestic tournaments such as Ranji and Duleep. It does not cover the IPL league, for which SET Max has telecast rights.

Star, ESPN Software, Multi Screen Media (owners of SET Max and the soon to be launched Sony Six), Times Network and Zee picked up the bid documents. Only Star and Multi Screen Media submitted bids, which were opened on Monday in Chennai. Runners-up Multi Screen Media had quoted Rs 3,700 crore.

Addressing a press conference after the BCCI marketing committee meeting, Mr Srinivasan said. “The media rights have been fully evaluated and paid now.”

Star's contract involves two years remaining from the Nimbus contract. BCCI scrapped the Rs 2,000-crore deal citing payment defaults by Nimbus, which owns Neo Cricket and Neo Sports.

Since then, there have been apprehensions whether the new media partner would be able to monetise the rights.

Mr Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India, said: “We will, in collaboration with partners ESPN Star Sports, ensure that the BCCI calendar gets a place of pride.”

Mr Aloke Malik, Managing Director, ESPN Software, said, “While Nimbus could not monetise the rights, we should be able to exploit the same.”

>swethak@thehindu.co.in

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