The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has taken a bold step in the upcoming media rights cycle by setting higher base prices for digital rights compared to TV rights. Despite this, the overall base price has been lowered to Rs 45 crore per match, a significant reduction from the previous cycle’s Rs 61 crore per match, which Disney Star had paid.
In an unprecedented move for cricket, the base price for digital rights has surpassed that of TV rights. An Economic Times report suggests that according to the tender released by BCCI, Package A, which includes TV rights for the Indian subcontinent, has a base price of Rs 20 crore per match. Package B, encompassing global digital rights and the rest of the world TV rights, comes with a base price of Rs 25 crore per match.
In the case of Indian Premier League (IPL) TV and digital rights for India, the base prices were set at Rs 49 crore and Rs 33 crore per match, respectively. Additionally, a special digital rights package featuring select IPL matches carried a base price of Rs 16 crore per match.
The e-auction for the media rights, scheduled for August 31, is expected to witness fierce competition between media giants Disney Star, Viacom 18, and Sony Pictures Networks India, as they vie for both TV and digital rights.
Covering 88 matches, the media rights tender spans five years (2023-28), with an overall base price of Rs 3,960 crore, thanks to the lowered rates.
However, the BCCI has set a threshold of Rs 60 crore per match, or Rs 5,280 crore for all 88 matches. If the consolidated bids fall below this threshold, the BCCI reserves the right to cancel the tender process.
To provide context, Disney Star had previously paid a staggering Rs 6,138 crore for the media rights cycle from 2018 to 2023.
This media rights auction occurs amidst other significant developments in the Indian media landscape. Sony and Zee Entertainment Enterprises are currently in the process of merging their businesses, while Walt Disney contemplates the potential sale of its India business, Disney Star. The auction’s outcome will likely shape the cricket broadcasting landscape for the next five years and beyond.
A recent GroupM-Finecast recent report said how advertising spends on TV are looking positive across global markets and would grow on the back of brands spending more on Connected TV. More often than not it is the convenience factor that is driving the advertisers towards the medium. The report predicts that by 2027, CTV advertising in India will touch 395 million dollars.
Even if we consider recent IPs, the sale of digital ad inventory has grown like never before.
TAM estimates showed that CTV ad spots showed a 20 percent growth for TATA IPL 2023. For the series, connected TV reached twice the number of viewers than on HD TV, indicating the growing trend of viewers preferring the convenience and flexibility offered by CTV platforms.
Naturally the whole digital landscape is getting a boost. In fact, some experts also suggest that BCCI’s decision to price digital rights more than broadcast is a step taken towards boosting the digital business.
“From top TV executives to media agencies everyone is talking about how digital is the future and how TV business is shrinking. Thanks to customised targeting, connected TV is also becoming a favourite amongst brands. All the factors combined is creating a positive environment for digital and the industry is holistically pushing that agenda. BCCI’s decision is one example of a step taken in that direction,” said an industry insider in the know of the matter.
Arnab Mitra, founder, Liqvd Asia & CEO, Digiboxx says that it’s a big win for digital advertising industry at large.
“More than the commerce part of things, my win, or rather our win is the trust that digital advertising has been able to instil amongst the marketers of India. And that’s the real winner. This beginning will ensure that Digital becomes the mainstay of the Ad world and everything else, I repeat, everything else becomes secondary,” he notes.
Rammohan Sundaram, president – integrated media, DDB Mudra Max says that Digital has overtaken TV on AdEx and most consumption of content is moving from “appointment watching” to “watch when needed”. He attributes this to the fast paced environment that we live in and the changing consumer behaviour with the GenZ audience and those who are below the age of 30 which comprises over 600M of country’s total population.
“This is the future of India and naturally, brand associates want to cultivate a bonding with this new growing audience. That answers why the BCCI’s digital rights are getting stronger. We saw it with the last IPL which Jio won and the future of consumption which is moving more towards streaming. With more dollars moving to content consumption on digital, the new beast in streaming will replace cable and satellite in the near future which is why even the BCCI rights are also higher,” he adds.