When the first day of the auction of the media rights of the IPL for the next 5 years (2023-2027) came to a close on the 12th of June, Sunday, everyone realised that it was going to be one of the highest valued media rights ever in world sports history.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), India’s apex board of cricket administration was able to rake in a colossal Rs. 43,050 crores which is just under $5.5 billion USD. This is a big jump compared to the previous auction where the BCCI was able to earn Rs. 17,000 crores. With the new auction completed, the BCCI will be earning just over Rs. 104 crores ($13.4 million USD) for every game in just media rights which is more than English Football’s Premier League at $ 11 million USD per game.
With this new lucrative deal done and confirmed, the Indian Premier League has jumped up to 2nd on the list of the highest per game deals just under the American National Football League (NFL) which is valued at $ 17 million USD per game. The IPL is now valued more than some of the largest sports leagues in the world, even more than the National Basketball Association (NBA), and every single football league in the world.
It is assumed that the second day of the auction will throw up much larger numbers.
The auction commenced on the 12th of June just before midday with 4 of the largest media companies of the country locking horns to secure them. The 4 companies were Viacom, Disney Hotstar, Culver Max and Zee Media. The auction has been split into to parts, Package A and Package B.
The first one is to buy the television rights of the competition in the country with the base price of it fixed at Rs. 49 crores while the 2nd one is to buy the digital rights of the competition in the country with its base price fixed at Rs. 33 crores.
The first day ended with package A having a bid of Rs. 57 crores while package B stood at Rs 48 crores.
It is assumed that the heaviest part of auction will take place on the 2nd day and the 1sat day just teased as to how much companies were willing to shell out to purchase the rights. Although the tournament is mainly watched in only India, it has still grown exponentially year by year to become one of the most watched and highest earning tournaments in the entire world.
