BCCI TV, digital bilateral rights: Lower premium expected this time, says report

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may earn something between Rs 6,500 crore and Rs 7,500 crore by selling the separate TV and digital rights for the home games of Team India. The cricket regulatory body has reduced the base price by 25 per cent per match than in the earlier cycle, a latest report by Elara Capital said.

A lower premium is expected due to fewer platforms bidding, curtailed ad spend of new age and commerce firms, and IPL revenue decline of 20-25 per cent YoY in 2023, the report stated.

In 2018, Star Sports India had won the BCCI media rights, for both television and digital platforms, for Rs 6138.1 crore for the period of 2018 to 2023. Till Asia Cup to be held in September, Disney Star holds the rights to broadcast and stream matches on TV and on its digital platform for all ICC events.

For the period 2023-28, Disney Star, Reliance-owned Viacom 18 and perhaps Sony and Zee, or the merged entity, are waiting to grab the media rights for India's bilateral matches.

The BCCI lowered the overall base price to Rs 45 crore per match. The TV and digital rights of the bilateral series have been divided in two packages at Rs 200 million (Rs 20 crore) and Rs 250 million (Rs 25 crore) per match, respectively, for 88 matches within the cycle (25 Tests, 27 ODI and 36 T20I). The combined base price stands at Rs 39.6 billion (Rs 3,960 crore).

Earlier, Disney Star paid Rs 61 crore per match in the recently concluded cycle.

“We expect the BCCI to garner 1.6-1.9x of base price (approximately 32% higher than earlier cycle rights on a like-to-like basis, as the number of matches has come off by 15 per cent vs the earlier cycle), as the current base at Rs 450 million per match is already 25% lower than the last cycle’s price of Rs 600 million," Analyst Karan Taurani wrote in the report, ‘BCCI on the Defensive’.

Elara said the BCCI expects at least Rs 60 crore per game at the auction, which translates into a base price of Rs 5,280 crore via the eAuction process.

According to the report, during the cycle of 2018-2023, the BCCI had earned Rs 61.3 billion (Rs 6,130 crore) from Star India for 103 matches, with a price per international game at Rs 600 million (TV and digital combined).

The brokerage expects premium to be higher than the base price for digital, as TV rights premium may be in the range of 30-40 per cent over base price whereas digital rights premium could be in the range of 80-90 per cent, which translates into a per match price of Rs 80 crore (TV and digital).

“We believe this pricing is justified as it will give platforms an opportunity to breakeven or turn profitable. India’s ad environment may turn conducive in CY24, led by profitable new age and commerce firms, inflationary pressures cooling off and emergence of Meta, Web 3.0 & 5G," Taurani said.

Similarly, the BCCI has reportedly reduced the base price of title sponsorship rights for international cricket matches played in the country to Rs 2.4 crore per match. In the last cycle, MasterCard and Paytm had paid Rs 3.8 crore per match.

The title sponsorship period will start in September 2023 and end in August 2026. The total price of the three-year sponsorship will be Rs 134.4 crore. The agreement will cover 56 matches, including 15 Tests, 15 ODIs and 26 T20 internationals.

The title sponsor will get the naming rights to all the bilateral series played by Team India. The tender for the title sponsor rights, which was issued on August 1, will be available for purchase until August 21.

Also read: Crisis at Zee: The company needs a closure on some serious issues

Also read: World Cup 2023: After Ahmedabad, Kolkata requests BCCI to reschedule Pakistan game

Also watch: Tesla names Indian-American DU graduate Vaibhav Taneja as CFO after Zachary Kirkhorn steps down