Mumbai: The Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights value has surpassed the expectation by crossing Rs 43,000 crore (over $5 billion) on day one of the e-auction held on Sunday, as per reports. The rights are for 2023-2027. The value is more than 2.5 times the base price set at Rs 32,800 crore.

The highly anticipated auction that was first announced on 29 March is expected to bring the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) an Rs 50,000-60,000 crore in revenues, as per some estimates. It is due to the high demand for the media rights. The contenders bidding for the digital rights are Disney Star, Sony Pictures Networks India and Viacom18. The bidders for digital rights include Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Disney+ Hotstar and Reliance Jio.

Media reports indicate that Package A which is for India TV rights is at Rs 57 crore a game while Package B which is for India digital rights is at Rs 48 crore a match. So the per match value is already over Rs 100 crore. The base price for Package A was Rs 49 crore a match while for Package B it was Rs 33 crore a match. 

Star India had paid Rs 16,347.5 crore in 2017 for the rights for five years. This time the BCCI doubled that sum as the base price. Reports indicate that Disney Star, Reliance, Sony, Zee, Times Internet and Fun Asia are participating. But only the first four parties are said to be bidding for Package A and Package B. In total, there are four packages. Package C is for the digital realm and involves 18 games on a non exclusive basis. It has a base price of Rs 11 crore a match. Package D is a rest of the world deal. This has a base price of Rs 3 crore a match.

In the e-auction process nobody including the BCCI knows who is making a bid. Only the bid amounts come up on the screen. Mjunction is conducting the e-auction.

Tech platforms like Amazon chose not to take part. The bidding will continue for Monday as well.

This year BCCI has decided not to offer an option for a composite bid to acquire both the TV and digital media rights for the IPL. This decision has been taken to extract the maximum value for both the media rights. This means that TV broadcast rights are sold at a base price of Rs 18,130 crore for five years or Rs 49 crore per match and digital broadcast rights are sold separately at a base price of Rs 12,210 crore for five years or Rs 33 crore per match.

Meanwhile, the former IPL chairman, commissioner Lalit Modi thinks that the rights could fetch $8-10 billion. "Everybody is throwing numbers on the table. But if you have to listen or believe in one number, then it is truly yours. I predict that this new IPL media rights tender will fetch close to 8 to 10 billion dollars. I believe this is the value of a genuinely global and world-class product" he wrote in a blog post.

"I am confident that this value will match the fun on the field with several close contests and a lot richer talent bursting through with their performances.

"The 2022 season has already provided us with so much joy with young fast bowling talent. Imagine this was possible in the first entire season with 10 sides. What could be the case with all teams playing each other twice? That would double the excitement and is the reason for my optimistic assessment of the increased value of media rights."

"The explosion in the digital space, which we first explored briefly back in 2010, is now a reality. Every life is dictated by the mobile phone and IPL will be no different. Linear TV is still very much the lifeline for an Indian audience. So that is going nowhere. Now add the digital boom and the strength of Linear TV, and we have close to 10 billion dollars!"

But he did note that there would have been more innovations had he carried on. "Back in 2010, when I travelled to the US with my core group, little did anyone know then about just what I was planning. We went to the Google office and came back with a win-win deal. The first-ever cricket live streaming happened on YouTube in 2010, with a dedicated fun feed. This fun feed provided behind-the-scenes content that was not visible on TV. This was a landmark moment for the coverage of the IPL and that too in its third year. If I had carried on, we would have come up with more innovations. We would not have had to wait 12 years for Google to pick up ITT for broadcast starting from the 2023 season."

"Of course, better late than never because IPL on YouTube was a moment to savor, which we all enjoyed being a part of. That YouTube arrangement was just one of the innovations we attempted and succeeded in."

He noted that when the IPL was conceived back in 2007, there were a lot of naysayers. "Will this work? Why would companies own teams? What about the auction? Isn’t it immoral? We had all these questions thrown at us right at the start. But we knew just what we were aiming for. We had a lot of friends to thank for believing in our product."

"Today those very people have grown into massive cricket business houses investing in leagues worldwide, like what we have with Knight Riders! There are others also, like the GMR and Reliance, who are keen to diversify into other leagues. It is all due to the success of the IPL that these companies have the belief in expanding their vision and growing in other territories. But nothing will be bigger than their IPL investment, ever!"

A latest report by Media Partners Asia forecasts that sports rights investments in India will grow at 10.1 per cent CAGR (compound annual growth rate) bolstered by demand for cricket, led by the IPL.