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The recently concluded IPL media rights e-auction for the 2023-27 cycle has established India's only T20 domestic tournament amongst the biggest sporting leagues in the world. Disney Star, Viacom 18 and Times Internet bagged the various rights to broadcast the IPL matches over the next five seasons on TV and digital platforms.
While the buzz over IPL media rights is yet to settle, the International Cricket Council (ICC) are reportedly set to launch its tender for media rights for the new cycle. During his recent visit to India, ICC Chairman Greg Barclay had confirmed that ICC is gearing up to float the tenders and asking broadcasters to submit a close bid.
The chairman of the cricket's apex body in the world informed that ICC will come out with a separate tender for global rights, and for the Indian sub-continent as against the usual practice of coming out with a global tender.
"I am highly optimistic and feel there are few credible parties that I think the ICC will be able to work with and they will also contribute heavily to the growth of cricket," he told Inside Sports.
Responding to queries over transparency, Barclay claimed that ICC has got its own strong capability internally and they have taken external advice as well. "I am comfortable that the way we are approaching the tendering of media rights is probably the best process for the ICC at the moment," said Barclay.
Notably, the ICC cycle for men's cricket will include four T20 World Cups and two Cricket World Cups. The world cups will be alternated with two Champions Trophy tournaments and four World Test Championship (WTC) finals. On the other hand, the Women's cricket cycle will have four T20 World Cups and two Cricket World Cups along with two T20 Champions Trophy tournaments.
Currently, Disney Star has the ICC media rights for an eight-year cycle from 2015 to 2023. The deal was almost twice the $1.1 billion that ESPN Star Sports, a former joint-venture of Disney and Fox had paid for the 2007-14 cycle. Reportedly, for the new cycle, incumbent Disney Star, Sony Network, and Viacom18 can emerge as potential bidders.