A wise and experienced broadcast sector executive once said, if you don’t have the media rights to popular cricket tournaments in India, it’s a problem. But if you do have them, it is still a problem. For, the cost of acquiring broadcasting and streaming rights to important cricket games is prohibitive. It burns a hole in your pocket. But not owning them leaves a hole in your entertainment portfolio. Cricket media rights allow you to remain ahead of competitors in terms of viewership, and, hence, advertising, even if they do not generate profits.
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That said, in the current environment, broadcasters and streaming services seem more circumspect about bidding for the upcoming BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) media rights to all domestic and international tournaments played in India for the next five years.
Sensing the risk of a lukewarm response, BCCI had lowered the overall base price per match from ₹61 crore in the last cycle to ₹45 crore, said media reports. But BCCI’s revenue prospects from the auction suddenly improved on Thursday when the National Company Law Tribunal approved the merger between Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd and the India unit of Japan’s Sony (now Culver Max Entertainment).
This means that Viacom18, which was seen as the sole serious contender for the rights so far, may now have to compete with Zee and Sony which can place a joint bid. Since the Sony-Zee merger was hanging in the balance, the two broadcasters weren’t considered key bidders. Besides, Disney Star, which bought the TV rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL) at a whopping ₹23,575 crore last year, may put in meek bids as it is said to be looking for a buyer to sell its India business.
To drum up a better fight for the rights to maximize its own revenue, BCCI is said to have sent feelers to digital giants like Google and Amazon to interest them in the bidding.
While broadcasters showed little interest in BCCI media rights owing to individual challenges, the interest in the games is also muted as audience tastes have changed.
Post IPL, the T20 format has caught the imagination of the cricket viewer and there is little patience for Test cricket or the One Day games. IPL has drawn even the non-cricket viewers to its fold owing to its short duration and entertainment value. “Test cricket is watched only by a niche, cricket-loving audience,” said a broadcast media executive, declining to be named.
A sports marketing specialist said bilateral games, which are part of BCCI media rights, used to be keenly watched some years ago when cricket fans didn’t have the choice of T20 World Cup, Asia Cup or even IPL every year. “Today, bi-laterals have lost relevance. Besides, only two marquee cricket series -- Australia and England – generate viewer and advertiser interest. Others like Sri Lanka or South Africa, don’t move the needle,” he added.
What also drags down the return on investment on BCCI media rights is the duty to produce and broadcast domestic tournaments like Ranji Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, among others. “These games have neither in-stadia spectators nor TV audiences or advertisers. Domestic tournaments are inconsequential,” said a broadcast sector executive, as far as viewers are concerned.
Little surprise then, Disney Star, which acquired the BCCI media rights when Uday Shankar was helming the Star India business, lost ₹1,000 crore in the last five years.
The BCCI media rights auction is also, perhaps, ill-timed in terms of the advertising climate in the country. For the past few years advertising categories that spent heavily on cricket included fantasy gaming, ed-tech companies, fin-tech firms and crypto currencies. While some of the companies in these businesses have collapsed, others have turned judicious in their ad spends. In 2021, even cryptos were banned from advertising on some cricket tournaments. “So, if you have cricket rights, you are in a tough space right now because of the ad environment,” said the sports marketing executive.
The broadcast media executive said BCCI auction should ideally see some cautious bidding. “Cricket media rights in India need to become viable. These concerns need to be raised with the authorities as whoever buys the BCCI media rights at a premium in the upcoming auction, will burn their fingers. Eventually, there has to be a price correction, else where will the funding for the next cycle come from?” he asked.
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