BCCI’s new policy shakeup to allow media rights' bid from consortiums

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) changed its policy and will now allow consortiums to bid for media rights for the upcoming cycle. Previously, it was not allowed for two media houses to come together and bid but the governing body will now allow that to happen. As an example of this, Sony Pictures Network and Essel Group (Zee Network) can come together and form a unit.

Meanwhile, this could lead to a massive increase in the bid. Disney Star and Viacom18 are already expected to go all out and thus, an entry of a third party can only accelerate the bid. However, it is still unclear whether Sony and Essel will come together and bid as one party. The conglomerate expressed their desire to form a unit long back but it hasn’t been materialised yet.

Due to legal disputes, their merger keeps on delaying. As per the latest update, October 1 is a tentative date for the completion of this unification. However, if they want to bid for the media rights, the two conglomerates will have to act quickly. The auction is scheduled to take place on August 31, while technical assessment bids must be submitted by August 28.

Meanwhile, the Roger Binny-led organisation expects that the incremental bids should be of at least INR 1 crore. For example, BCCI would be happy if a particular organisation is bidding INR 50 lakh for package A (television rights) and another 50 lakh for package B (digital rights). On the other hand, if a particular company is only interested in one package, the incremental bid must be at least INR 1 crore.

Notably, the winner of the auction will be in charge of a total of 88 games, starting in September 2023. The base price of the television rights has been set for INR 20 crore while the digital rights have a base price of INR 25 crore. BCCI has mentioned that the winning company or companies need to broadcast commentary in at least five languages, with Hindi and English being the primary ones.