The media rights e-auction for the next five seasons of the Indian Premier League is currently underway, but the highest bids for TV and digital rights in the Indian subcontinent have already been confirmed.

As per reports, Star India saw off stiff challenges from Sony Sports and Reliance-backed Viacom TV to win the television rights for IPL from 2023 to 2027. They will be paying a total of Rs 23,575 crore, which means Rs 57.5 crore per game. 

Viacom submitted the winning bids for digital rights at Rs 20,500 crore. Earlier this year, Voot also won both television and digital rights for the FIFA World Cup, and they already have rights for both La Liga and Serie A. 

Overall, the BCCI will be earning Rs 107.5 crore per game from the television and digital avenue in the Indian subcontinent. The league has already overtaken the EPL and NBA in terms of revenue from broadcasting, and is now only second to the NFL, whose media rights are valued at around Rs 140 crore per game. 

“At present, a National Football League game costs a broadcaster about $17 million, which is the highest for any sports league. That’s followed by the English Premier League, at $11 million, and the Major League Baseball figure, too, is roughly the same,” said Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, to Indian Express.

However, IPL media rights valuation will shoot up further once the auction for the non-exclusive matches and overseas media rights are confirmed. The BCCI has also indicated they are planning to conduct 94 matches per season from 2026. The inclusion of two new teams this year fetched $1.7 billion to the board. 

“In the last five-year cycle, we got $9 million from one IPL game. This time, going by the present minimum base price that we have set, BCCI will get paid $12 million per IPL match. That’s a giant leap for Indian cricket on the world stage. We will be just behind NFL,” concluded Shah.

Featured Image Credit: IPL/BCCI