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One of the most popular sports leagues in the world is anticipating a record haul from its upcoming media rights auction.
The bidding war for the rights to broadcast dozens of Indian Premier League matches from 2023 to 2027 could reach $7 billion. The June auction for the 14-year-old cricket league is likely to spur a faceoff between major domestic and international media forces.
- Both linear and streaming rights are currently held by Disney-owned Star India on a $2.5 billion deal from 2018 to 2022. The company streams games through the Disney Hotstar service.
- The league will auction off linear and streaming rights separately for its next set of deals.
- The bidding process will be conducted as a live online auction June 12-13.
Clash of the Titans
Star India is expected to bid to retain its rights, but it will have competition.
Amazon is likely to fight for streaming rights. Ambani Industries, owned by Mukesh Ambani, is set to be in the mix as well. Ambani, who owns the IPL’s Mumbai Indians, is worth an estimated $100 billion.
A new entity created by Sony and Zee Entertainment will also compete. Sony lost out on the previous round to Disney. Meta and Google could enter the fray as well.
The IPL’s 15th season, which began in March, brought in two new teams: the Gujarat Titans, owned by CVC Capital Partners, which paid $737.7 million for the franchise; and the Lucknow Super Giants, of which the Sanjiv Goenka Group took control for $930 million.
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