Amazon Pulls Out Of The Ipl Media Rights Auction
Amazon was expected to be one among the highest bidders in the digital house competition, but it withdrew without giving a reason. The much-anticipated battle between Jeff Bezos and Mukesh Ambani for ownership of one of the world’s most valuable sporting properties will now not take place, as OTT behemoth Amazon backed out of the IPL media rights bidding, which was set to begin on Sunday.
Viacom18, which is owned by Reliance Industries Restricted, is considered one of the most powerful competitors in both television and digital media. Amazon, which was established by Jeff Bezos, was expected to be one of the highest bidders in digital real estate, but it dropped out without providing an explanation.
“Indeed, Amazon has dropped out of the race. They were not a part of the technical bidding process at the time. As far as Google (YouTube) is concerned, they received the bid document but did not submit it. “At the moment, ten companies (TV and streaming) are in the running,” a top BCCI official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
A four-way fight .There are four distinct packages in which an e-auction will be held for 74 games every season over a five-year period from 2023 to 2027, with the option of increasing the number of games to 94 in the final two years. Bundle A includes exclusive TV (broadcast) rights for the Indian subcontinent, while Bundle B includes digital rights for the Indian subcontinent.
Bundle C is for 18 selected video games in each season for digital home, whilst Bundle D (all games) is for mixed TV and digital rights for international markets. “Let’s be clear,” the insider stated, “the Viacom 18 JV (Joint Enterprise), current rights holder Walt Disney (Star), Zee, and Sony are the four competitors for the packages with firm footprints in both the TV and digital markets.”
Instances Web, FunAsia, Dream11, FanCode are a few of the numerous rivals for digital space, whereas Sky Sports activities (UK) and Supersport (South Africa) will compete for international TV and digital rights. Star India had previously purchased rights for both TV and digital with a combined price of Rs 16,347.50 crore, but this time the total base value is more than Rs 32,000 crore.
This time, all bidders must submit individual bids for each package agreement. As of Friday, a handful of the major players interested in the bidding process believe that BCCI may anticipate a bid of Rs 45,000 crore (USD 5.8 billion approx. ), representing a two-and-a-half times increase in valuation.