Disney Star, Viacom 18, Sony-Zee in FRAY as BCCI sets for another Rs 6,000 crore windfall with a new four-year media rights tender
The plans for selling the media rights for bilateral international cricket at home have begun at its apex counselling meeting on Sunday. The bilateral series are the second largest source of income for Indian cricket after the Indian Premier League, and today the BCCI is scheduled to release the media rights standard for the same. Reportedly, Disney Star, Viacom 18, and Sony Zed are in the fray this time as the Indian Board braces for another Rs 6000 crore windfall.
After receiving 48,390 karod from Indian Premier League media rights, the BCCI would have high expectations for the home season rights for the 2023–27 cycle. The entry of Viacom’s into the Indian cricket market could spark a three-way conflict with other two being Disney Star and Sony-Zed, according to several reports.
For the Indian Premier League, the BCCI made money by selling the broadcast and digital rights separately, and it is also believed that it will do the same for the home international matches. For the period that is going to end on March 31, Star paid a total of INR 6,138.1 crore.
According to Hindustan Times, the BCCI intends to streamline its rights in accordance with the future Tours Programme, i.e., the FTP of the International Cricket Council, and other high-end properties like ICC events and the IPL by issuing a four-year tender (2023-27) as opposed to the current five-year tender (2018–23).
In addition to the various competitions like the ICC World Cups and Asia Cup, the Indian team is scheduled to play 20 Tests, 21 ODIs, and 31 T20Is at home under the current FTP.
A BCCI official said that although the schedule may occasionally be expanded, there won’t be any significant alterations to the FTP, which has been carefully planned with showpiece fixtures like the 5-Test series against England and Australia.
To help India’s preparations for the yearly ICC tournaments planned for that specific year, ODIs and T20Is have been organised. The BCCI has also begun using electronic auctions to obtain a true valuation. The first uses of the online auction method were made by BCCI rights in 2018 and IPL rights in 2022.