STAR India wins IPL global media rights with consolidated bid of Rs 16,347.5 crore
STAR India won the global broadcasting and digital media rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) thanks to their consolidated bid of Rs 16347.5 crore at the BCCI-organised auction in Mumbai on Monday.
The highest territorial combined bid was Rs 15,819.54 crore, but STAR India’s consolidated bid was way more than that. As a result, they currently hold the media rights for the next five editions of IPL.
Sony and STAR India were found eligible for TV broadcast rights in India after the initial evaluation of the bids while Airtel, Reliance Jio, Times Internet and Facebook were eligible for the digital rights.
Sony Pictures held the broadcast rights of the Indian Premier League after it paid Rs 8,200 crore for a 10-year deal in 2008 while Star India owned the digital rights ahead of this media rights auction.
A total of 24 companies picked up papers to contest for the several rights up for grabs, but 14 out of them were present at the auction. Amazon , Taj TV , Gulf DTH, Group M, Media India, Sky UK Ltd, ESPN Digital Media, BTG Legal Services, BTPLC , Twitter, Discovery did not submit their bids.
The auction was supposed to take place in September last year through an open-tender process. Around 18 companies were in contention then but the Supreme Court intervened to postpone the bidding.
