BCCI set to earn at least 18,000 crores from the IPL media rights

The prestigious Indian Premier League (IPL) will enter its 10th edition in the 2017 season. While the player auction is set to be held on 20th February and is making all the buzz with plenty of new players making their maiden appearances, the media rights for the tournament will expire at the end of this season and it is expected to bring huge bucks for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI) has been the holders of the media rights since the first season in the year 2008 and their deal is going to expire after this edition. The initial deal was fetched for INR 6,700 crores for 10 years. Star India hold overseas rights except for the US and the UK and the digital rights, telecasting the matches with a five-minute delay after the TV transmission.

IPL had started with a lot of money involved which has increased leaps and bounds since and hence, the deal for media rights is expected to be given for somewhere between Rs 18,000-30,000 crores and could well go for even more than that.

The involvement of Supreme Court in the BCCI’s management and the departure of big names from the administration has affected a great deal. The newly appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) hasn’t yet revealed the official time frame for the media rights sale.

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“The former BCCI bosses were in terrible hurry to do the IPL deal, which was rightly stopped by the Lodha Committee as the office-bearers weren’t eligible to do so. But the current working style of BCCI is to do everything without rushing. It’s, after all, the most important process for BCCI,” a source told Times of India.

As the Big Three autonomy in the International Cricket Council is expected to be closed soon, the future revenues of the board will be heavily impacted and the media rights sale would come in handy in such a time.

The bids for it will be accepted until October 25 and the TV rights will be given till 2027 while digital rights will be given till 2022. The COA will then go through the tenders and hand over the deal to the most suitable vendor.