Sony Pictures Networks and Star India to fight it out for IPL Broadcasting Rights

Television broadcasters Sony Pictures Networks and Star India are expected to give head to head competition to each other for the broadcast rights of Indian Premier League from 2018 onwards, even when the Indian cricket board is readying to initiate media rights sale. Sony Pictures Networks, which is the existing rights holder for the tournament with a contract that ends after the 2017 season, has made it very clear that it will leave no stone unturned in getting the contract for future seasons as well.

Star India, owned by Rupert Murdoch, is also heavily invested in this race of acquiring the broadcasting rights of further seasons of the IPL. This is the only missing piece of big cricketing properties in India in its portfolio since the company had been heavily investing over the last four years to build up its sports portfolio in the country.

The BCCI is expected to start the process of negotiations for media rights of the IPL from 2018 after the end of the current edition of this popular tournament, which has become the prime entertainment sport on Indian Television. "Over the last nine years, we have extensively promoted IPL, not only on television but across other mediums like print, outdoor and digital.

“Our marketing campaigns have become cultural mnemonics in household conversations," said NP Singh, CEO of Sony Pictures Networks (as reported by The Economic Times). According to some reports, Discovery Channel, which runs the Eurosport channel in Europe, might also be interested in the sports extravaganza that is the IPL.

If sources are to be believed, they are planning to launch their own sports channel in the country, and what better way to make an entrance into the country than with its biggest tournament, aka the IPL? The new leadership at Discovery might be thinking along the same lines, we assume. However, no response could be gathered from either Star India or Discovery through the email enquiries sent.

New BCCI president Anurag Thakur has said that he expects a "handsome" and "multi-fold" rise in the price that it realises from IPL media rights. On a side note, it’s noteworthy that ESPN had picked up the rights for the IPL at $1.1 Billion when this highly successful venture was still an untested property

"There is nothing to match IPL in the Indian sporting arena and interest in it has remained sustained over the years," said Varun Gupta, managing director of advisory services firm American Appraisal.

While a lot of media players might be interested in the broadcasting rights of the IPL, Gupta feels that it would eventually be ESPN and Star India who would be battling each other until the end. ESPN's contract with the BCCI automatically gives it the right of first refusal, and hence it remains to be seen how the negotiations between the two pan out.

However, the BCCI chief has confirmed that all future contracts will no longer carry this sort of a clause.

Over the years, the cash and controversy-rich T20 league has proven to be the most sought after platform for advertisers as it continues to garner interest from a wide range of people across age groups. The current official broadcaster SPN is said to have made around Rs 1,000 crore from sponsorship and advertising in the 2015 edition of IPL. This year's figure is expected to be higher.