Here's the 'Ready Reckoner' for IPL media rights

IPL media rights e-auction is scheduled to take place Sunday beginning 11 am, where only India's top four broadcasters are said to be left in the fray. A four-way battle for top broadcast and digital rights will see a tough fight among the incumbent Disney Star India, Reliance-backed and Uday Shankar-led Viacom18, Sony and Zee.

Here's the 'Ready Reckoner' for IPL media rights

Q: What are the dates of the media rights auction?

A: It is expected to be for two days -- June 12 and 13.

Q: What is the period of IPL Media Rights?

A: The period is for five years from 2023-2027.

Q: Number of matches per season?

A: It is 74 with the provision of going up to 94 in the last 2 seasons.

Q: What is the current valuation of IPL Media Rights?

A: Rs 16,347.50 crore for both TV and Digital with Star India.

Q: What are the packages on offer?

A: TV Rights for Indian sub-continent at Rs 49 crore per game.

B: Digital Rights for Indian sub-continent at Rs 33 cr per game.

C: 18-match, non-exclusive digital package at Rs 11 crore per game.

D: Overseas TV and Digital Rights at Rs 3 cr per game.

Q: What is composite base price for all packages?

A: Total composite base price for all four packages is Rs 32,440 cr.

Break-up: Package A is Rs 18,130 cr (74x49x5) Package B is Rs 12,210 cr (74x33x5) Package C is Rs 990cr (18x11x5) Package D is Rs 1110cr (74x3x5)

Q: Which are major companies bidding?

A: There are 10 companies in the fray: Viacom18 JV (Joint Venture) with Lupa Systems (Uday Shankar and James Murdoch), Walt Disney (Star), Zee, Sony (both India media and digital rights).

Times Internet, Fan Code, FunAsia, Dream11 (only digital rights).

Supersport (South Africa) and Sky Sports (UK) vying for Overseas TV and Digital rights.

Q: Can one entity make a composite bid like Star did last time?

A: No. Every package will be awarded to the highest bidder.

For example, Facebook had presented the highest digital bid for Rs 3900 crore in 2017 but Star grabbed the rights with a huge composite bid despite the lower digital bid.

Q: Can one entity get two packages?

A: Yes, that is possible.

Suppose, if Star has the highest bid for India TV rights (Package A) for an 'x' amount and Sony places the highest bid for India digital rights for 'y' amount, both the companies can challenge each other in a tie-breaker.

Q: Which package could see a close fight?

A: Package C, which has non-exclusive rights for 18 games that include the opening game, final, three play-offs, and a few weekend double headers.

All major players (Viacom, Zee, Sony, Star) would like to own this digital package. If a company wins India digital rights and loses out on non-exclusive rights, then it loses out on massive revenue (advertisement plus subscriptions) for those 18 games which can be accessed on any other platforms. Companies would like to buy it to kill competition.

Q: What is the type of auction that is being held?

A: Just like last time, it will be an e-auction where companies can raise their bid by 50 crores in one go. E-auction is transparent but time-consuming.

Q: What is kind of money expected by the BCCI?

A: The BCCI is expecting that over and above their Rs 32,440 crore composite base price, it could earn another 12,000 to 12,500 crore which may take the valuation up to Rs 45,000.