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The aggressive bidding for acquiring the media rights for the next cycle of the Indian Premier League (IPL) turned many heads as India’s own T20 league became second-most lucrative in the world. The IPL media rights were sold for a massive USD$ 6.2 billion over five years and on a per-match basis, that revenue will make it second only to the NFL around the globe. This huge money spent to acquire the media rights of a T20 league speaks volumes about the popularity of the game and the International Cricket Council (ICC) is really happy to see this happening.
The ICC officials have lauded the interest shown by bidders and are confident that a game-changing media deal for the IPL will only have a positive impact on the growth of the game on a global level. They also see this as an indication of what is coming for the global cricket governing body when they go to market for their own rights. Notably, the ICC sent out its first Invitation to Tender (ITT) for its own rights for the next cycle of ICC events on Monday.
ICC vice-president media rights, Sunil Manoharan has said that the global cricket board is delighted to see that the game is so strong in the strongest market in the world. "I think more than anything we're delighted," said Sunil Manoharan. "Ultimately to see cricket is so popular and so strong in the strongest market in the world, it's fantastic news for everyone."
The IPL process has demonstrated the appetite for rights: Anurag Dahiya
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Commercial Officer, Anurag Dahiya also spoke on this topic and said that the massive bidding for IPL media rights has affirmed the hunger for rights. He also brushed away the talks around IPL media rights e-auction taking place before ICC’s e-auction doing damage to the latter.
"We've long felt that IPL values would be in that range. It wasn't a surprise. It was a good affirmation of our sense of where the market is and the value of premier cricket rights in that market. I think the IPL process has amply demonstrated that there is a huge appetite for rights…Everyone has visibility of our rights coming up. That's part of the puzzle everyone puts together. There is definitely appetite and that process hasn't done anything to diminish the overall appetite in that market,” said Anurag Dahiya.