196%, 2, $950m – the key numbers from a record-breaking IPL rights auction
A mind-boggling surge in the value of digital rights included
Nagraj Gollapudi14-Jun-20222:42
Just how massive is the IPL’s new media-rights deal?
196% – That’s how much the overall value of the IPL media rights has skyrocketed compared to the previous cycle (2018-22), when talking in India rupees. In 2017, Star India had bought the consolidated IPL media rights (that is, TV and digital) for INR 16,347.5 crore for a set of 300 matches (60 per season, for five seasons). This time around, the overall value is INR 48,390.5 crore for 410 matches, which is 2.96 times or 196% higher than the previous cycle. In US dollar terms, the hike is 143%, from $2.55 billion to $6.2 billion.The per-game value of the IPL over the seasons•ESPNcricinfo LtdNo. 2 – In terms of per-match value, the IPL is now only behind American football’s National Football League (NFL) and ahead of English football’s Premier League. Each NFL match is worth US$ 35.07 million* (based on the ten-year rights deal signed in 2022), while the value of a Premier League match as per the rights deal signed in 2022-25 is US$ 11.34 million**. Based on the overall value of INR 48,390.5 crore for a maximum of 410 matches in the next cycle, each IPL game is worth INR 118.02 crore (US$ 15.11 million approx.).1.96 – An IPL match, based on media rights, is now worth nearly double (1.96 times) that of an India home game. The average value of each India home game – as per a five-year deal bagged by Star India, in 2018, worth INR 6,138 crore (at the time US$ 944 million) – is INR 60 crore, while an IPL game now costs INR 118.02 crore ($15.11 million approx.).!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var a in e.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r<t.length;r++){if(t[r].contentWindow===e.source)t[r].style.height=e.data["datawrapper-height"][a]+"px"}}}))}();
113.35% – In Indian rupees, the winning bid for TV rights in the Indian subcontinent in this cycle (Disney Star’s bid of INR 23,575 crore, or US $3.02 billion approx.) was 113.35% higher than the highest bid for TV rights from the previous cycle. In 2017, Sony had submitted the highest bid for TV rights in the subcontinent: INR 11,050 crore, or at the time US $1.72 billion. That Sony did not win the TV rights eventually was down to Star India submitting a consolidated bid across categories and markets to become the highest overall bidder.$950m – The overall sum spent on digital rights for the Indian subcontinent this time was INR 23,758 crore (US$ 3.04 billion approx.). Viacom 18 bid INR 20,500 crore (US$ 2.62 billion approx) to win Package B (digital rights for Indian subcontinent), and also bagged Package C (digital rights in India only for a selection of high-profile matches) with a bid of INR 3,257.5 crore (US$ 417.20 million approx.). This combined figure to secure the digital rights in the subcontinent for a maximum of 410 matches, in INR terms, represents a rise of 45% from the overall bid (TV + digital at INR 16,347.5 crore) for the previous cycle comprising 300 games – the difference stands at INR 7,410 crore (or US$ 950 million approx.). If digital rights for the subcontinent from this cycle are compared with the highest bid for digital rights in the Indian market in the last cycle – INR 3,900 crore (at the time US$ 0.61 billion approx.) from Facebook, which, again, did not stand against Star India’s consolidated bid – the digital rights in this cycle have seen a six-fold increase in value.* Forbes
** Athletic