The bidding war for the TV and digital rights of IPL’s next cycle has ended, but the names of acquiring parties have not been officially announced yet. The winning bids for the next cycle (2023-2027) saw an exponential increase in their value than the previous years as the TV rights (Package A) for the Indian subcontinent have been sold at INR 57.5 crore per match, while the highest bidder forked INR 50 crore for digital rights (Package B).

A couple of days ago, it was confirmed that the Indian Fantasy Sports giants Dream 11 followed Amazon in exiting the race for the media rights of the IPL. Fan Code, a part of the Dream sports venture, is owned by Dream 11, which was in contention for the lucrative media rights of IPL from 2023 to 2027.

Fan Code, the app which has over 1.5 crore downloads, has prominent tie-ups including cricket boards, franchise-based tournaments, premier football and basketball leagues. Some of their major associations are with West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Bundesliga and I-League, in addition to American leagues such as Major League Basketball (MLB), National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Meanwhile, although the IPL 2022 saw TV viewership decrease by over 30% in the first three weeks of the season, the media rights of the next cycle have been sold for blockbuster values. The TV rights for the IPL for five years are worth INR 23,575 crore along with the digital rights, worth INR 20,500 crore, which adds up to a whopping INR 44,075 crore, more than twice last the sum of the last cycle (INR 16,347.5 crore).

The IPL finds itself among some elite cash-rich competitions like NFL and English Premier League, with its combined number (TV and digital) of INR 107.5 crore for a match, being one of the highest match day values in sports.

The names of the winning bidders have not been confirmed yet as the IPL rules state that the winner of Package A gets to compete against the bidders of Package B as well in the case of two different highest bidders for each package. However, the digital package is understood to be bagged by Jio, while Disney Star are believed to be the winner for the TV rights bundle, as per Economic Times.

The Package details in full

Package A: Indian Subcontinent Television Rights; Package B: Indian Subcontinent Digital Rights; Package C: India Digital Rights 18-game non-exclusive pack; Package D: Rest of the world Television and Digital Rights.

-Package C Grouping: 18 or more consisting of the opening match; Playoffs night games of double headers

– Package D groupings: Territory A: Asia, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean islands, Israel and New Zealand; Territory B: the Middle East and North Africa; Territory C: South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa; Territory D: UK, Europe & Territory E: USA

Base prices: Package A: INR. 49 crore; Package B: INR 33 crore; Package C: INR 16 crore; Package D: INR 30 lakh per territory; and each bid must be done on a per-game basis.