Disney, Viacom18 Secure Coveted IPL Rights

The auction for media rights to the Indian Premier League began Sunday, with Viacom18 and Disney among the winners walking away.

Viacom18, a joint venture between Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, Paramount Global, and investment company Bodhi Tree Systems, secured streaming rights to the months-long tournament as part of a five-year, $2.6 billion deal.

The IPL’s TV rights reportedly went to Disney for $3 billion over the next five years.

• Star India, which Disney acquired in 2019 through its $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox, paid roughly $2.5 billion for rights from 2017 to 2022.
• This year’s auction marks the first time the Board of Control for Cricket in India is selling the IPL’s broadcast and streaming rights individually.
• In 2020, 44% of Indian households watched an IPL match live, totaling 61 billion viewing minutes.

Two packages are left to be sold — TV and digital broadcasting rights outside India and non-exclusive rights for certain matches — and the auction will resume Tuesday.

IPL Appeal

The growing price tag for the IPL’s media rights aligns with its teams’ growing valuations. 

Indian billionaire Sinjiv Goenka bought two teams for $950 million and $750 million last year, expanding the tournament to 10 teams. IPL clubs’ valuations are growing at a faster rate than NFL and NBA teams.