IPL media rights: How is e-auctioning different from closed bid?

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is all set to hold e-auctions for the IPL media rights for 2023-2027. Although it is the first e-auction for the IPL media rights, BCCI had tasted the success of e-auction for BCCI media rights in 2018, which was won by Star India after a fiercely aggressive bidding.

Star India had bought the five-year consolidated rights for Rs 6138.1 crore, 62% above the previous deal which was Rs 3,851 crore in the e-auction held then.

The auction process

In an e-auction, all the bidders are able to see every live offer, but the identity of the bidders is kept hidden. Once, the process is over, the bidders’ identities are disclosed.

So, each entity involved in the bidding process knows how much the bid amount is growing but it remains clueless about who is raising the stakes.

At BCCI media rights e-auction held in 2018, the minimum amount for incremental bids was Rs 25 crore for the consolidated rights, Rs 20 crore for the global TV plus rest of world digital rights, and Rs 5 crore for the Indian subcontinent digital rights.

On the other hand, in a closed bid setup, the bidders submit their bids unbeknownst to what others are bidding.  

e-auctions are said to be transparent unless rules are bent to favour any specific party. For a closed bid set-up, the chances of manipulations are higher as it is non-transparent and can be rigged by colluding with a senior official.

e-auction to escalate the bid exponentially

The e-auction will be a showdown of the biggest players in broadcasting battling it out for the high impact property that is IPL. 

Keeping in mind that the number of matches is going to be 74 from 62, which will become 94 from 2024, it is safe to say that IPL is going to be valued above Rs 25,000 crore even at the current value by the broadcasters.

While at first, it might look like there are many contenders, the broadcast-plus-digital play has made the game difficult for digital-only companies. 

“I can see the final competition boiling down to three players - Disney, Viacom18 with Uday Shankar and Sony-Zee,” an industry veteran had told BestMediaInfo.com.

For BCCI media rights, Star India had paid Rs 60 crore per match, up 39% from Rs 43 crore per match paid in the previous deal.

For IPL, this hike could be much more. In the current deal, Star is paying around Rs 52 crore per match. If there is at least a 40% jump in per match value, it will touch Rs 73 crore per match.

At this rate, the overall cost for the 450 matches to be played in the next five years may attract in the excess of Rs 32,000 crore.

The Invitation to Tender (ITT) could be floated by February 10. The e-auction will be held within 45 days from then. 

Info@BestMediaInfo.com