IPL Media Rights Will Play Out As A Desperate Money Game Of Thrones For Aspiring Owners

Star Sports’ five-season all-encompassing global television media and digital rights over the glamorous Indian Premier League (IPL) will end at the conclusion of the Tata IPL Season-15 starting on March 26 at the Wankhede Stadium. There is no denying the fact that the IPL has become the money making machine for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the Rs 93 lakh deficit it posted in mid-nineties. From a whopping Rs 8200 crore that SONY Pictures Network paid for the first 10 years from 2008 to 2017, Star India almost doubled it — Rs 16,347.50 crore — for TV (Star Sports) and digital (Hotstar)  platforms for five seasons (2018-22). The mastermind, the then Chairman and CEO  of Star India, Uday Shankar, averred that the price his company successfully bid was “not outrageous” and that the per match fee of Rs 54 crore was “not exorbitant” reasoning that after 10 years, the IPL had become a tried and tested and a premium product. SONY itself had put in a sum of Rs 11050 crore. Experts reckon that the IPL media rights (TV and Digital) for 2023-2027 will definitely touch Rs 35000 crore plus for five seasons and the e-auction could make the desperate, more desperate to own IPL, the most sought after hot property in the world of cricket. Five years ago there were 13 bidders, including five for digital.