Disney Star is reported to have retained the domestic broadcast rights for the Indian Premier League for a period of five years from 2023 for a fee of Rs.23,575 crore, according to multiple news media outlets.
Winners of the e-bidding process for 2023-’27 that commenced on 12 June 2022 are yet to be announced officially, giving rise to speculation.
Sony was said to have won the TV rights by media entities and social media users during the day on June 13, while news about Disney Star having won the rights emerged later in the day.
The reports quoting an unnamed BCCI source added that Viacom18 has won the India digital rights for the same period, with a winning bid of Rs. 20,500 cr.
With a total of 410 games (est.) to be played – 74 per season currently with the option of raising it to 84 or 94 in 2026 and 2027 – this takes the per match cost to Rs.57.5 cr cr for TV and Rs. 50 cr for digital.
The base price set by the BCCI was Rs. 49 cr per match for broadcast rights and Rs. 33 cr per match for digital rights.
In the period 2017-’22, Disney Star paid Rs. 16,347 cr for broadcast and digital rights, combined, upping the ante from Rs. 8,200 for broadcast bid by Sony Pictures Network previously for a 10-year term.
For Disney Star, this effectively translated into a per match cost of Rs.52 cr (broadcast and digital combined, with 314 matches played).
After other bidders like Amazon and Google moved away, the major contenders in the fray besides Sony were incumbent Disney Star, Viacom18 and ZEE.
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