On Thursday, Viacom 18 achieved a significant stride in the realm of Indian cricket broadcasting by securing both TV and digital rights for the national team’s home series for the upcoming five years. Their combined bid amounted to approximately Rs 6,000 crore, triumphing over competitors Star India and Sony in a fierce three-way competition.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had initiated separate e-bidding processes for both linear (TV) and digital rights to ensure optimal price discovery.
“Viacom 18 allocated around Rs 3,101 crore for digital and Rs 2,862 crore for linear (TV) rights. As observed, digital rights tend to yield more value. With Viacom’s acquisition of IPL digital rights for over Rs 26,000 crore, they now possess nearly all the high-profile cricket properties except IPL linear (TV) and ICC events,” disclosed an anonymous source within the broadcasting industry, closely following these developments.
These rights will become effective during India’s three-match home series against Australia commencing on September 22 and concluding on March 31, 2028.
“BCCI secretary Jay Shah extended his congratulations to @viacom18 for securing the @BCCI Media Rights in both linear and digital domains for the next 5 years. He remarked, ‘India Cricket will continue to flourish in both arenas, building on our partnership through @IPL, @wplt20, and now @BCCI Media Rights,'” as stated on ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter.
Over the course of the next five years, India is slated to partake in 88 international games spanning three formats, including 25 Tests, 27 ODIs, and 36 T20Is. The per-match value of this deal stands at approximately Rs 67.76 crore, which is a considerable increase of nearly Rs 7.76 crore from the previous cycle’s Rs 60 crore per match.
Nonetheless, the BCCI will receive Rs 175 crore less compared to the Rs 6,138 crore received in the previous cycle, which had featured more games, specifically 102 matches.
Considering the prevailing market sentiment, the per-match valuation appears to be favorable, considering the upward trend. It’s important to acknowledge that significant advertisement revenue is garnered only from marquee Test matches and series against teams like England and Australia. For matches against other nations, the real revenue generator remains the T20 format.
India is scheduled to play against Australia in 21 matches and will face England in 18 matches across three formats throughout the next five years.
Post Your Comments