Viacom18, a media company owned by Reliance Industries, has emerged as the winner of the BCCI media rights for the domestic and international cricket matches to be held in India. The company has acquired the rights for both TV and digital platforms, for a total sum of INR 5996.4 crore (USD 724.60 million approx.).
The e-auction for the media rights was conducted by the BCCI on Thursday, with Viacom18 competing against Disney Star and Sony. Viacom18 outbid its rivals in both categories, offering INR 3101 crore (USD 374.70 million approx.) for digital rights and INR 2862 crore (USD 345.90 million approx.) for TV rights.
The BCCI’s Honorary Secretary Jay Shah announced the result of the auction on X, and expressed his gratitude to Disney Star India for its previous support to Indian cricket. Disney Star India was the holder of the media rights for the 2018-23 cycle, for which it had paid INR 6138 crore (USD 944 million then) for 102 international matches.
The new deal with Viacom18 means that the BCCI will earn an average of INR 67.75 crore per match, which is an increase of 12.92% from the INR 60 crore per match that Disney Star India had paid. The BCCI had put up 88 international matches for the rights period of 2023-28. Unlike the previous cycle, where the BCCI had three categories of rights – Indian subcontinent TV and rest of the world digital (GTVRD), Indian subcontinent digital (ID), and global consolidated (GCR) – this time it had only two categories – Indian subcontinent TV and Indian subcontinent digital plus rest of the world TV and digital.
The cricket fans in India will be able to watch the bilateral matches on Sports 18 channel and JioCinemas app, which are both part of Viacom18’s portfolio. Viacom18 also holds the digital rights for the IPL and the TV and digital rights for the WPL.