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The combined value of TV and digital rights for the next IPL cycle (2023-27) for the Indian subcontinent has more than doubled to INR 39,775 crore (approx. USD 5.10 billion). This figure comes after the winning bidders for the TV and digital rights were confirmed on Monday, the second day of the IPL Rights e-auction. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the winning bid for Package A – TV rights for the Indian subcontinent – was INR 57.5 million (approximately $7.36 million) per game, while Package B – digital rights for the Indian subcontinent – received the highest bid of INR 50 million (approx. US$6.41 million) per game.
In terms of value per game, the total of INR 107.5 crore (approx. US$13.78 million) has made the IPL one of the highest ranked in all sports alongside the NFL and the English Premier League. Each NFL game is valued at $35.07 million* (based on the 10-year rights agreement signed in 2022), while an EPL game is valued at $11.34 million under the 2022-25 rights agreement dollars** is specified.
Based on 74 games per season for the next five years, the new TV rights package is worth INR 21,275 billion (approx. USD 2.72 billion), while the digital rights are valued at INR 18,500 billion (approx billion USD). In terms of INR value, the total is 2.43 times or 143% higher than the previous IPL rights deal valued at INR 16,347.5 billion (approx. USD 2.55 billion at the time). On a US dollar basis, the increase is exactly double or 100%.
The biggest driver of this growth in IPL rights has been the exponential growth in digital rights. The INR 18,500 crore paid by the highest bidder alone was 13% higher than the total amount paid by Star India to bag the global consolidated rights (TV and digital) for the previous five year cycle. The importance and rapid rise of the digital footprint in the Indian market can be seen from the fact that in 2017, Facebook’s highest bid for the digital rights was INR 3900 million (approximately US$610 million at the time).
The winning bid for the TV rights was 17.3% above the base price of INR 49 crore (approx. US$6.3 million) set by the IPL for Package A. The corresponding figure for digital rights rose massively by 51.5% above the base price of INR 33 crore (approx. $4.2 million).
The names of the winners have not yet been announced by the IPL authorities as the e-auction is still ongoing and bidders are vying for the final two packages: Package C (digital rights for the Indian subcontinent for a special bouquet of matches) and Package D (rest of the world). Consequently, the total value of the IPL rights for the next cycle will also change.
It was revealed that the tender for Package C had started late Monday and is set to resume on Tuesday. Package C includes non-exclusive “Special Package” games, including the tournament opener, weekend games and the four playoffs, including the final. While the opening game and playoffs will be mandatory, the IPL will determine the number and which of the evening games from the double-headers based on the total number of games in a season.
According to the IPL, the number of games in this package depends on the total number of games in a season. If the IPL includes 74 games (like IPL 2022), the special package includes 18 games. If there are more than 74 games in a season, Special Pack games will increase in increments of two for every 10 additional games. So if there are 84 games in a season then the special pack games increase to 20 and if the tournament has 94 games then the special pack will have 22 games.
Additional reporting by Yash Jha
All USD values are approximate, where 1 USD = 78 INR
*According to a Forbes report based on the NFL rights deal
** According to a report in Athletic
Nagraj Gollapudi is a news editor at ESPNcricinfo
