Viacom18 emerged victorious in the BCCI media rights auction, securing both TV and digital rights for bilateral cricket matches to be held in India over the next five years.
The auction, held on August 31, featured three contenders- Viacom18 and Sony. BCCI presented two distinct packages for TV and digital rights, with companies required to have a net worth of Rs 1000 crore for participation.
The packages included India subcontinent television rights (base price of Rs 20 crore) and India subcontinent digital rights + rest of the world TV and digital (base price of Rs 25 crore), with a combined base price of Rs 45 crore per game.
Congratulations @viacom18 🤝 for winning the @BCCI Media Rights for both linear and digital for the next 5 years. India Cricket will continue to grow in both spaces as after @IPL, and @wplt20, we extend the partnership @BCCI Media Rights as well. Together we will continue to…
— Jay Shah (@JayShah) August 31, 2023
With this latest win, Viacom18 will now broadcast the Team India home matches, IPL (digital), Women IPL, Olympics 2024, SA home matches 2024, T10 League, Road Safety World Series, SA20, NBA, Serie A, La Liga, Ligue1, and Diamond League.
Sports18 will telecast the matches, international and domestic on TV, while it will be live streamed on JioCinema as OTT (over the top) platform.
Sony Pictures Network India and Viacom 18 were the two contenders in the fray during the e-auction on 31 August.
Disney Star had bagged the rights in 2018 for Rs 6,138 crore (Rs 60 crore per match). That valuation has now reached Rs 5,966.4 crore for the five-year cycle – at Rs 67.8 crore per match.
In comparison, IPL media rights (digital and TV combined) for 2023-27 cycle had gone for a staggering Rs 48,940 crore (approximately $5.2 billion) last year with Viacom18 sealing the digital rights and Star the TV rights. It set the value of each IPL match at Rs 118 crore.