IPL media rights were sold for Rs. 48,390 crores to Star India, Viacom18, and Times Internet for a five-year period.
The IPL continues to touch greater heights as the blockbuster media rights auction netted the BCCI an eye-watering sum of Rs. 48,390 crores over the next five-year period. Star India – owned by the Walt Disney Company – retained the domestic TV rights for Rs. 23,575 crores, Viacom 18 bought the domestic digital rights and digital and TV rights for three overseas regions (Australia and New Zealand, United Kingdom, and South Africa) for Rs. 23,758 crores. Times Internet snapped up the TV and Digital Rights for the remaining two global regions (the USA and the Middle East) for Rs. 258 crores.
Per match broadcast cost of an IPL match | |
2008 - 2017 | Rs. 13.6 crores |
2018 - 2022 | Rs. 54.2 crores |
2022 - 2027 | Rs. 118.02 crores |
The per match value for the IPL over this next five-year cycle has more than doubled compared to what Star India paid for 300 matches between 2018-2022 (Rs. 16,347.5 crores).
With this hike, the IPL is amongst the most valued sports leagues across all sports. Only the NFL has a higher per match cost in terms of broadcasting fee, with the IPL overtaking marquee sports leagues such as the NBA and English Premier League following the latest media rights valuation.
Per match broadcast cost of global sports leagues | |
NFL | $35.07 million |
IPL | $15.11 million |
EPL | $11.34 million |
The media rights package sold at this auction includes 410 IPL matches over the next five years. Just like the 2022 campaign, there will be 74 games each in the next two seasons in 2023 and 2024, rising to 84 in 2025 and 2026 and 94 in 2026.
To accommodate these additional games, the BCCI secretary Jay Shah stated that in the next future tours programme created by the ICC, a specific two-and-a-half-month window will be carved out for the IPL, hinting at what the future of cricket looks like, with fewer international games on the calendar. No other bilateral series will happen during this time, allowing all the world’s best players to play in the Indian Premier League and earn their retirement.
The franchisifcation of cricket began in 2008 when Lalit Modi’s brainchild was born, and with the astronomical numbers and money we are seeing 15 years later, the dynamics of the sport may be changing before our very eyes.
Shivaan Shah