Different Views & Opinions: The Industry Experts express their views on the aggressive bidding of the IPL Media Rights

On Tuesday (June 14), the big and cash-rich IPL media rights auction got concluded. The final price of it was a colossal sum of INR 48,390.32 crores. By this, we can see that this tournament has been one of the most lucrative tournaments in the sporting world. 

For the 2023-2027 period, Star India has yet again retained the Television rights of the tournament for a humongous amount of Rs.23,5757 crores (Rs. 57.5 crores per game). Whereas, the digital rights were acquired by Viacom18 for Rs. 20,500 crores. In addition, Viacom18 bought the non-exclusive Package-C by paying Rs. 2,991 crores more. 

Now, with two big broadcasting companies coming into the picture, several experts in the industry voiced their opinions on it. With the total value of these rights, some believe this can easily absorb into the market. But some think that these things and factors which are puffy & inflated put an enormous pressure on the sport. 

Sandeep Goyal, the Managing Director of Rediffusion, a TV Network company, believes that the price increase of IPL television rights can be easily absorbed in the market. While the case might not be the same for the digital space as we might see a complete change in the OTT segment.

"Disney Star has ended up with a sweetheart of a deal on (TV) broadcast rights. Stressing that concurrently, the number of matches has also increased in the next five years. Effectively the price is up about 33 percent in five years, which is an arithmetic increase the market will easily absorb," stated Goyal. 

Goyal added to his words, "I think Reliance is going to do to OTT what they did to mobile - a complete metamorphosis. So, Jio could well decide to give cricket free to all subscribers and go up 500 per cent on the current base. Voot (Viacom 18's video-on-demand platform) is going to see a dramatic jump. Exciting stuff ahead".

Navin Khemka, CEO of South Asia, MediaCom, has expressed his views on how the real value of the tournament would get unfolded in the next five years. He has also mentioned the aggressive bidding and amount that has led to IPL being in the top-3 sporting tournaments. 

"This was expected considering how high the base prices were set, and there were three-four serious bidders. It is also a step-change in the way digital is being valued. It will be very interesting to see how they bring in innovation in the way IPL will be monetized. For advertisers, they would have more options to choose from." said Khemka. 

While Ronnie Screwvala, the founder of the defunct UTV group, believes this is a matter of concern for the tournament and sport. 

Through his tweet, he stated, "Should we send a Message of Congratulations or Message of Condolence to the Winning Cos for IPL bid - what say? Great for @BCCI great for all team owners, and I wish I could say Great for Cricket -but we know anything so puffy & inflated puts a lot of stress on the sport itself."

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) was also one of the bidders in the auction race. Rahul Johri, who happens to be the President-Business, ZEEL, released a statement where they believe in evaluating every nook and corner of the business and its decision through the prism of value for all the stakeholders. 

As the numbers suggest, the BCCI was successful in securing one of the biggest broadcasting deals in the world of sports.