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Star India has won the global media rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL) for five years beginning 2018.
The media company bid ₹16,347.50 crore, beating 14 contenders, including Sony Pictures Network, which held the broadcast rights of the cricketing league for ten years since 2008.
A total of 24 companies, including Amazon, Facebook and Twitter, had picked up tender documents for two major categories — TV broadcast and digital. However, only 14 companies were in the fray on Monday. Big names such as Amazon, ESPN Digital Media, Twitter and Discovery dropped out of the auction at the last minute.
Sony Pictures bid ₹11,050 crore for the India broadcast rights alone, but lost to Star India because the latter had bid for global rights. Players such as Reliance Jio, Times Internet, Airtel and Facebook submitted bids primarily for digital rights. Facebook had bid ₹3,900 crore for digital rights — the highest in the category — but lost out to Star due to the latter’s consolidated bid.
IPL media rights comprise seven categories, including Indian television, Indian digital, the US, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Rest of the World. Star India was the sole bidder for all categories.
“India, IPL and digital have changed in the last ten years and the competitive bidding is a reflection of that. We made a conscious call to bid for all categories as our channel is globally distributed. We aim to provide a complete experience to the viewers and this was possible only if Star bagged both the broadcast and digital rights,” said Uday Shankar, Chairman. Star India.
In 2008, when the IPL debuted, Sony had paid ₹8,200 crore for rights over a 10-year period. When contacted, Sony Pictures Network said: “SPN has nurtured IPL since its inception and, within a span of 10 years, established it as one of the most popular sporting properties in the world. We take this opportunity to wish Star India the best as they shape IPL over the next five years.”
According to a Duff & Phelps report, IPL’s online viewership has grown from 41 million in 2015 to 100 million in 2016; for 2017, the number is put at 130 million.
Star’s win comes even as Direct-to-Home service provider Dish TV filed a complaint with the Competition Commission of India against Star TV for allegedly monopolising the broadcast rights of BCCI.
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