In recent developments, Viacom18 has attained a dominant position in the Indian cricket broadcasting landscape by successfully securing both the television and digital rights for the national team’s home series for the forthcoming five years through a consolidated bid of approximately Rs 6,000 crore. This victory was achieved after prevailing over Star India and Sony in a competitive three-way contest.
Key Details of the deal
According to reports, the newly acquired rights will be effective from India’s imminent three-match home series against Australia, commencing on September 22, 2023, and extending until March 31, 2028. India is slated to engage in a total of 88 international matches spanning three formats, comprising 25 Test matches, 27 One Day Internationals (ODIs), and 36 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). The per-match valuation of this deal stands at approximately Rs 67.76 crore, marking a substantial increase of nearly Rs 7.76 crore compared to the previous cycle’s value of Rs 60 crore per match.
Nonetheless, it is worth noting that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will receive Rs 175 crore less than the Rs 6,138 crore it garnered during the previous cycle. This revenue reduction may be partly attributed to the waning popularity of One Day Internationals (ODIs), of which there are 27 scheduled in the upcoming cycle.
Over the next five years, India is scheduled to compete in 21 matches against Australia and 18 against England across the three formats. Notably, the BCCI’s total earnings fell short of reaching the billion-dollar threshold, lacking approximately INR 2,300 crore. However, this shortfall may be attributed to the decreasing appeal of ODI matches, which constitute a substantial portion of the schedule.