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There’s no dearth of drama in Indian cricket. No, I’m not talking about the Indian Premier League (IPL), the world’s hottest and richest cricket tournament, whose 2021 edition is nearing its end. or maybe the Indian women’s team’s tour of Australia, which is throwing up some fantastic matches. There’s lots of pulsating action on our screens a day, but there’s an equally interesting game being played off-screen. A game of cat and mouse. Last week, in our now-retired Beyond the primary Order newsletter, I wrote about how the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and also the International Cricket Council (ICC)—the governing bodies of Indian and world cricket respectively—are trying to one-up one another with relation to selling their media rights. After media reports suggested that the ICC was about to release the rights tender for its 2024-2031 cycle as early as December this year, the BCCI swooped in and announced that it'll release the IPL rights tender for 2023-2027 later this month. Not eager to be one-upped so easily, the ICC got its frame of mind on. in step with a recent Times of India report, it's now planning to... a) halve its eight-year rights cycle into two b) go different ways the rights by territories instead of a worldwide consolidated bid. Let’s take a look at each of those plans individually. The ICC’s last eight-year rights cycle (2015-2023) sold for around US$1.9 billion in 2014. Three years later, the BCCI raked in US$2.55 billion for five-year (2018-2022) IPL rights. Both sets of world rights were bought by Indian broadcaster Star India. The BCCI is predicted to induce a minimum of 25% more—around US$3.2 billion—for the IPL’s next five-year rights cycle (2023-2027). Since it'll be the primary mover, it could even get quite that. Now, since the ICC didn't beat the BCCI during this round of quick-draw, it thought: why not halve the cycle-length? Why sell the rights for one more eight years now then wait until the following decade for its next payday? An eight-year cycle is unusually long in today’s era. While the IPL’s inaugural rights cycle in 2007 was for 10 years, that was because it absolutely was tied to the initial grant of the franchise rights, which was for 10 years.
That said, the ICC’s eight-year cycle made sense earlier because it didn’t have quite one marquee event a year until recently. But with the introduction of tournaments just like the World Test Championship, things have changed. in step with the ICC’s schedule of events for the 2024-2031 period, announced in June, there'll be a minimum of three marquee events per annum.
With such a packed calendar, a shorter cycle could work. “I think the ICC is reducing the cycle length just to make sure they get more value,” said an executive who’s conscious of how cricket broadcast deals add India, on condition of anonymity. “They would like an eight-year cycle because they have to possess a long-term revenue distribution model for all their member boards. If they reduce it to four, it’s purely because there might not be enough money within the market immediately, thanks to the pandemic, to justify an eight-year deal.”
One thing the ICC has in its favour is that India’s sports broadcast industry is now a three-horse race. It’s unlikely that Star India will hold all the key cricket rights within the future. As I’ve reported for MY STUDIO, that India’s largest conglomerate Reliance Industries Late Dhirubhai Ambani entities is getting serious about sports broadcasting, and also the impending merger of Sony Pictures Network and Zee Entertainment is ready to form the most important media group in India. However, these two broadcasters that don’t win the IPL rights will get in the ICC bid with the knowledge that the third player might not put up much of a fight. “They're just fighting for whatever is left of the market,” said the manager. “When Star won all the massive cricket rights in 2017-18, they let alone of other deals like Australia and England cricket.” which suggests the ICC might not get as fierce a bidding war because it might hope. That’s why shortening the rights cycle, together with loading up the calendar, could add up. And then, it can select it again in 2027. As for the attempt to go different ways the rights into territories, it is sensible to seal the largest revenue market—India—before that specialize in other regions. “They’ll probably also break it down into six or seven categories just like the IPL—India (television), India (digital), USA, geographic area, etc,” said the manager. “The only reason Star won the IPL rights in 2017 was because their global consolidated bid was greater than the sum of all the best individual bids put together. If someone would have put Rs 500 crore (US$80 million) more, Star would have gotten nothing.” It’s a desirable battle to follow. In a way, it’s a win-win situation for the BCCI because the more cash ICC gets, the more the Indian cricket board stands to realize thanks to the ICC’s revenue distribution model. The BCCI will receive US$293 million from the present eight-year ICC rights cycle—the highest among all ICC members. But this cat-and-mouse game will likely continue. Because the valuation of IPL will always be lots above ICC events. and also the BCCI also has full control of the IPL, unlike the ICC whose revenue distribution model brings with it the element of reciprocity—like participating serial which will not make the foremost monetary sense for the BCCI.
Sports is globally a $1.1 trillion industry. And India is where plenty of the long run action are going to be, given its young population, large economy, and exploding internet usage. which bustling intersection is what this brand-new newsletter is all about. Mumbai Multimedia Studio are going to be your front seat to the foremost significant innovations and disruptions—a weekly newsletter that always deconstructs but always explains the business of sport from India.
Money Matters will arrive in your inbox every Saturday at 9 PM Indian civil / standard time (IST), it's also only one of seven new weekly newsletters we’ve launched in the week, all of which you'll find www.multimediastudio.net. If you haven’t checked them out already, I highly recommend you are reading You won’t be disappointed for Sure its guaranteed by Yusuf Bhandarkar - The Founder CEO of Multimedia Studio Mumbai 400008 Mumbadevi INDIA I'd also like to hear from you, so be at liberty to achieve bent on me with any questions, topics you’d like covered, or feedback multimediastudio9@gmail.com Who will win this cat-and-mouse game? Your guess is nearly as good as mine.