Sound the Crickets on Amazon’s Bid for $7.7B IPL Rights

Amazon reportedly will not bid in Sunday’s auction for streaming rights to the Indian Premier League, which are expected to go for up to $7.7 billion as part of a five-year deal.

The company, which has a $1.1 trillion market cap, was previously expected to win the rights to the multi-week tournament, which the Board of Control for Cricket in India estimates is valued at $7 billion. But the price tag may have been too much for the company, which has already spent around $6.5 billion on its India business.

“Amazon has a great balance sheet, but as a standalone, digital-only bidder, it would’ve had a challenge recouping such a big investment on streaming,” said Mihir Shah, vice president and India head at Media Partners Asia.

Amazon’s departure leaves at least three powerhouses vying for the rights: Disney, Sony, and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.

• Disney inherited rights to the league in 2019 when it took over Fox’s Star India.
• Fox paid around $2.1 billion for the rights in 2017.

This year’s process will be different, as the BCCI is auctioning IPL’s broadcast and streaming rights individually for the first time.

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The IPL has grown to 10 teams — whose valuations are growing at a faster rate than NFL and NBA teams — playing 74 matches. When it launched in 2008, it only had eight teams with 14 matches. In 2020, 44% of Indian households watched a live IPL match for a total of 61 billion viewing minutes.