A wildcard entry into the IPL rights scramble

The IPL has grown to become India's best-known ‘consumer’ product and which is why it is attracting some unusual players

The digital and broadcast rights for the IPL between 2018 and 2022 are up for grabs next month, on 17 July

When the BCCI originally announced the sale of the IPL digital and media rights in September 2016, it managed to attract almost every big player in the game

American e-commerce company Amazon can emerge as a potential winner, pipping Hotstar and the rest to the rights

July's tender process could also see Zee Entertainment chairman Subhash Chandra making a comeback into sports, even as a digital player

The Indian Premier League final may have been done and dusted last month but the scramble for fresh rights is about to begin. And as always, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to earn a windfall even in the times of uncertainty surrounding its administrators. The digital and media (read: broadcast) rights are up for grabs next month, on 17 July.

Two BCCI officials, who spoke to The Ken on a condition of strict anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the press, estimated the digital rights to fetch anywhere between Rs 500 and Rs 1000 crore for a five-year period, while the broadcast rights could see the cricket board getting richer by upwards of Rs 16,000 crore for a similar period.

AUTHOR

Venkat Ananth

Venkat is currently in his tenth year in journalism. Prior to The Ken, he was Deputy Content Editor at Mint as part of the newspaper’s digital team. He also wrote in-depth features on the business of sport for the newspaper. His earlier assignments include Yahoo! (as a columnist) and the Hindustan Times, where he began his career. Born in Mumbai, Venkat holds a Bachelor of Mass Media (Journalism) degree from SIES College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Mumbai and a Master of Arts degree in International Studies from Goldsmiths, University of London. He currently resides in New Delhi, where he moved nearly five years ago.

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