IPL Media Rights: Industry seeks best pricing models

Last week, the ICC bid farewell to media rights by appointing a five-member task force. The group’s main priority in the coming months will be to consider all possible steps that can help the ICC maintain the current value for the 2028-31 cycle, or better yet, by exploring the best available pricing models. However, the ICC bid for media rights will not be the first to appear on the market. The world governing body will have to wait for the BCCI to first design and publicize a tender for the IPL media rights, after which any other assets around the world, including the ICC, will be up for sale.Meanwhile, the BCCI is yet to act on it. The Indian cricket administration, which is usually considered a sleeping giant unless it wakes up from its slumber, has yet to take up the call to bring in a funding agency to figure out the right pricing models, as it did during the previous rights cycle. Interestingly, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia is a member of the ICC media rights task force, which is headed by ECB chief Richard Thompson and includes ICC chairman Jay Shah.In 2022, the Cricket Board engaged financial consultancy KPMG to prepare the IPL tender documents. This document included a special non-exclusive digital rights package designed to sell a select “bouquet” of high-value matches in the Indian subcontinent. This package, which was set at 18 matches per season for a 74-game structure, rose to Rs 3,273 crore at R33.24 crore per game and ensured that the internet rights eventually generated more revenue for the BCCI from the subcontinent than the traditional sale of TV rights for the first time in its history.“We expected to hear from them (BCCI). With how technology is changing the way we consume sports, we thought the board would like to explore these changing revenue patterns and models for the IPL. For example, look at the YouTube sports sales model in the US. NFL Sunday Ticket is a case study in itself,” said an industry executive.Sports industry leaders strongly believe that the value can be immense if the BCCI explores this space further. BCCI members will be in Mumbai for the AGM from Friday. Those watching the development can’t think of a more important topic for members to discuss than the upcoming sale of media rights.“India has a strong cricket platform. IPL is already a premium property on that platform. All you need to effectively build on it is what can be effectively done outside of live matches. Archives, highlights, documentaries, regional storytelling, fan engagement, etc. You may have one or two broadcasters fighting for the rights, but building a separate inanimate consumer base to selectively monetize premium real estate is another subject.The key alignment principle here must be based on a modular concept, rather than the all-inclusive concept that currently prevails. “Maybe it’s not a very healthy model either, considering all your eggs are in one single basket,” says an IPL franchise executive, referring to the IPL’s heavy reliance on JioStar for live streaming. OTT giant Netflix hasn’t been too keen on the idea of ​​incorporating live sports into its paywall. However, it certainly hasn’t shied away from exploring events that can be incorporated into its existing plans to create a reason for people to remain subscribers.“We are still wondering why Amazon, Netflix or YouTube haven’t looked at the Indian market. The fact is that it is up to us to sell our products to them and only then can we grab their attention. So in the case of IPL rights, the onus is definitely on the BCCI to go out and start talking to these platforms,” ​​the franchise executive added.