The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the invitation to Tender for Media Rights for the BCCI International and Domestic Matches on August 2. On this occasion, only three competitors have entered the final phase for the auction of the media rights of BCCI.
Battle for BCCI Media Rights
The BCCI has invited many reputed entities to acquire media rights for BCCI international and domestic matches.
The detailed terms and conditions of the tender process including eligibility requirements, process for submissions of bids, rights, and obligations are explained in the invitation of tender which will be made on receipt of payment of a non-refundable fee of INR 15 lakhs.
Recently, IDFC bank has bagged the title rights for the home international series of the Board of Control for Cricket in India for three years. The agreement will be valid until August 2026.
On this occasion, the interested parties Disney Star, Sony Sports, and Viacom 18 are eligible for the auction which will take place on August 31.
The other entities such as Zee, Fancode, Google, and Amazon did not participate as they pulled out of the race. The BCCI Media Rights Auction will take place in Mumbai. The live Broadcast will be starting from the India vs. Australia series next month which will mark the beginning of the new cycle.
Hence it will be a battle between two traditional rivals, Sony and Star. Viacom 18 will be joining the competition. Monday will be the final day for the submission of technical bids.
While Zee Entertainment has not submitted a technical bid, they are still in the auction as they have a partnership with Sony. The National Company Law Tribunal has authorized the merger plan between Max Entertainment and Zee Entertainment this month. Therefore, the technical bid serves as the first step towards participation in the forthcoming online auction.
The partnership between these entities will be an important event within Indian corporations. The partnership in bids remains as a possibility given that the Board of Control for Cricket in India is allowing consortium bids, which was absent in previous media rights auctions.
The collaboration between the two organizations doesn’t come as a surprise, as their merger is anticipated to be finalized by October 1.
The evaluation of the technical bids might be a formality as all three broadcasters have participated in IPL auctions previously. Disney Star and Viacom are already media partners of the BCCI by holding IPL rights.
To be more precise, companies are eligible only if they possess a net worth of Rs 1000 crores in which all three competitors have exceeded the criteria.
