Only three organizations have submitted technical bids for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s media rights. Disney Star, Sony Sports, and Viacom 18 are the interested parties. These submissions have been made in advance of the auction scheduled for August 31.
It is known that two more large international corporations, Google and Amazon, as well as other organizations like Zed and FanCode did not take part. As a result, a three-way competition between two longtime rivals, Sony and Star, and one newcomer, Viacom 18, will take place for the television and internet rights of international games in India.
The deadline for submitting technical bids, during which the regulator determines whether the applicants met the requirements stipulated in the Invitation To Tender (ITT), was Monday. Thus, placing a technical bid is the first step in taking part in the upcoming online auction.
It has become clear that Zed will be working with Sony in the bidding process given Zee’s absence from the proceedings. This development appears as an unavoidable result of the two broadcasters’ agreed merger, a significant change in the business landscape of India.
Given that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is allowing consortium bids, which was not an option in past media rights auctions, most notably the IPL rights sale last year, a joint bid by Sony-Zee is still a possibility. Representatives of the company were contacted right away, but no response was received. However, the two organizations’ cooperation is not unexpected given that their merger is planned to be completed by October 1.
Given that all three broadcasters have already participated in IPL bidding and that two of them, Disney Star and Viacom, are already media partners of the BCCI because they have IPL rights, the review of the technical proposals might just be a formality.
For those who don’t know the specifics, businesses must have a net worth of Rs. 1000 crores. This predetermined standard is greatly exceeded by all three companies.
The Indian subcontinent television rights and the Indian subcontinent digital rights, which are bundled with the rest of the world’s TV and digital rights, are presented by BCCI as two separate packages. The starting price for the television package is INR 20 crore, while the starting price for the digital package is INR 25 crore. Additionally, it has been mandated that the total auction value must be less than INR 60 crore.