With the IPL a sure winner, the BCCI could change the order with bilateral rights coming first.
With T20 leagues mushrooming around the world, interest in ODIs waning and the length of the Test calendar shrinking, there was a sense that the game would take a major turn in 2022 when the prime-time cricket rights were renewed. However, the recently concluded value of ICC media rights ($3 billion for 4 years) and IPL rights package ($6 billion for 5 years) showed that the market has dropped all cricket on a plate, international and franchise.
This may give the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hope that its bilateral broadcast rights - India's international matches at home - which will be renewed in 2023, will also see similar growth. Market players already know what is on offer. According to the Future Tour Program (FTP), India would play 20 Tests, 21 ODIs and 31 T20Is at home in the next four years (2023-27).
A BCCI official confirmed that this was more or less what the board would offer as it looks set to reduce the period of the rights cycle by a year - from five to four - in line with the ICC rights cycle. “We are thinking of placing BCCI rights first and then IPL,” said the official.
The order matters because it determines the strategy of individual broadcasters, and BCCI officials believe that while the IPL will continue to grow organically, BCCI's bilateral rights could benefit from being first in line.
who missed out on both IPL and ICC rights, are expected to be interested in BCCI bilateral matches. “Viacom 18 also has no Indian cricket to showcase for its recently launched TV channel. They might also be interested,” said an industry executive. Disney Star may want to consider BCCI's rights to boost its Hotstar digital platform. As ICC Chief Commercial Officer Anurag Dahiya said recently: "Broadcasters need all the cricket and supporting programs for their calendar."
It can be confirmed that Disney Star's $3 billion offer was not only head and shoulders above the others, but the only one that was not within the range of the $1.4 billion asking price. It is clear that Star wanted the rights badly, others did not see the same value in them. However, the ICC disagrees that Star overpaid.
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