Expect a Fierce Competition for IPL Media Rights

The merger talks came to the fore after Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) top shareholders Invesco and OFI Global China Fund LLC sought an EGM to sack Puneet Goenka and two other directors from the company’s board over corporate governance issues. Zeel entered into a non-binding term sheet for the merger with Sony, with Goenka remaining as MD and CEO. While the merger may take some time, if it passes with shareholders and regulatory authorities, media experts highlighted the strong contender that this merged entity could be for IPL media rights.

Still, the guesswork could be simple as Sony-Zee will have to compete against other giants that have emerged in the last five years when Star India bid and won the global media rights for the IPL in 2017. ₹16,347.50 crore.

As the countdown to bids begins, a group of media companies are preparing a battle chest for ₹30,000 crores.

For starters, the current rights holder Starr, now backed by the might of The Walt Disney Company, cannot be ruled out. While Disney is more process driven and many feel it may reconsider its investment in the game, others argue that Hotstar’s reach was behind the IPL. And Disney itself has publicly stated its intention to grow the streaming business. A sports business specialist said the company may bid for both the TV and streaming rights of the T20 league.

Another serious challenger this year will be Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which holds a majority stake in television broadcaster Viacom18. It recently hired Anil Jayaraj from Disney-Star to head its sports business with plans to launch a sports channel.

Reliance Jio also bid for the digital media rights of the IPL in 2017, as did social media giant Facebook Inc. However, what has changed between then and now is that in the last one year, Facebook bought a 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms Ltd, a wholly owned company. Unit of RIL. Even Alphabet Inc’s Google has picked up a 7.73% stake in Jio Platforms. Both the deals are likely to push Jio’s digital apps forward and build on the company’s digital ecosystem. Meanwhile, Viacom18 is already telecasting the Spanish football league LaLiga on MTV in India and live streaming it on Voot and Jio platforms.

American streaming platform Amazon Prime Video also cannot be taken lightly. Here’s what its country manager Gaurav Gandhi said, not after financial Times On the company weighing more opportunities to secure the cricket rights. This was last December, when it acquired India’s territorial rights to stream New Zealand cricket matches from 2025–26, including Team India’s tour of New Zealand in early 2022.

IPL rights will be fiercely contested as the property is risk-free and even Covid-free, given that the tournament was not cancelled.

For broadcasters, Cricket is a value-maker as it has a serious rub on other content. Not only do channels build distribution on their backs, it makes them more dominant with advertisers.

“IPL has almost become a default viewing option in single television households whether you are actually watching the match or not. That is why, the viewership is equally high for both men and women,” said Sandeep Goel, Managing Director, Rediffusion.

IPL started with ad rate per 10 seconds ₹as compared to 1.2-1.3 lakh ₹Today 15 lakh may be sold on some inventory ₹18-20 lakh, Goyal said. “Digital ads are pulled ₹300-400 crores annually, earning of broadcast abroad ₹100-200 crores and full stadium can mean revenue ₹400 million. Add advertising and other sponsorships to the stadium and you have a ready case for any broadcaster to bid for the IPL. IPL becomes the growth engine for any network. So, bidding for this tournament is a necessity in almost all the ecosystem,” Goyal said.

Shuchi Bansal Mint Media, Marketing and Advertising Editor. The simple post will look at pre-assing issues related to all three. Or just fun stuff.