Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players
Disney Star keeps ICC rights with $3 billion bid
Disney Star beat competition from Viacom 18, Sony and Zee
After the bumper returns in the Indian Premier League (IPL), it was the turn of International Cricket Council (ICC) world events to rake in the money. On Saturday, ICC garnered close to $3 billion, according to those in the know, from highest bidders Disney Star who retained the rights for the next four years (2024-27).
That’s around ₹6,000 crore per year. And that’s just from the lucrative India market, with bidding for other territories to follow. Two months back, the IPL media rights went for a whopping ₹48,390 crore or ₹9,678 crore per year.
ICC did not reveal the winning number but confirmed in a statement that “Disney Star won following a single round sealed bid process which yielded a significant uplift to the rights fee from the previous cycle.”
Walt Disney’s India wing’s bid is more than double the asking price of $1.42 billion, and beat competition from Viacom 18, Sony and Zee. The auction rules had mandated a second round of bidding if the two leading bids were within 10 % of each other. That wasn’t required.
With this, Star has, despite the increased penetration of digital platforms in the country, kept the faith in television as the medium that generates most revenue. In June, they had acquired TV rights for the IPL by agreeing to pay ₹23,575 crore even as Viacom 18 bagged the league’s digital rights. With the provision for a consolidated bid (TV + digital) in the ICC tender, they did not think twice in winning both with a big number.
“With the acquisition of the ICC Digital and TV broadcast rights, Disney Star has further strengthened its status as the premier destination for marquee cricket events in the country,” said K Madhavan, Country Manager & President, Disney Star.
“This was an incredibly competitive process, which isn’t surprising given the huge audiences that cricket consistently attracts with more than a billion fans that passionately follow the game globally,” said ICC Chairman Greg Barclay.
There was also a provision for an eight-year bid but none of the broadcasters was keen. It could be argued that the next four-year rights cycle is not a hugely attractive one with India hosting only one event, the T20 World Cup in 2026.
Next on the cards are the BCCI bilateral rights which will hit the market in 2023. Sony-Zee are expected to make a solid push to stay in the business.
For the first time, ICC brought out a separate tender to sell women’s events, which also went to Star. “Having a broadcast and digital partner for women’s events in India is a significant step forward in our ambition to accelerate the growth of the women’s game,” said Barclay.
