Reddy
Tape Ball Captain
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2017
- Runs
- 1,085
MUMBAI: A little more than 20 companies have bought the Invitation To Tender (ITT) for the high profile media rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the submissions for which have now been scheduled for September 1.
The submissions, earlier scheduled to take place on August 28, had to be postponed by four days because of matters related to taxation and impending bank holidays. In the first round of clarifications on the ITT sent out last Friday, the Indian cricket board had informed potential bidders about the same.
The list of those who have picked up the ITT will be submitted to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, when the petition submitted by MP Subramanian Swamy - asking that the IPL rights should be sold through an e-auction to ensure transparency - will come up for hearing.
Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who is also hearing the matter concerning the BCCI in its long standing legal tussle with the Cricket Association of Bihar, will hear Swamy's petition.
Swamy, in his petition, and later in a chat with TOI, had mentioned that given the fact that the Government of India follows the e-auction process as a norm, and considering "e-auctions ensure greater process control, increased transparency, shorter lead times and an extremely competitive price discovery environment," it is the way forward.
The BCCI, however, stated that "cricket is not coal" and "e-auction of rights will not help discover the best value".
In the meantime, as the fraternity waits for the Supreme Court to show the way forward, TOI has learned that Star India Pvt Ltd, Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt Ltd, Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd and Reliance Jio Digital lead a list of 20-odd companies that have picked up the ITT, with another internet giant Yahoo joining the race. Others in the fray include Followon Interactive Media, Times Internet Ltd, Gulf DTH, SuperSport International, GroupM Media India, beIN IP, Econet Media Group, Sky UK, ESPN Digital Media, BTG Legal Service, BT Sport, Twitter, Facebook, Discovery, Airtel, Yahoo and DAZN Perform Group.
While it certainly happens to be an attractive line-up, the fact that BCCI has kept all options open in terms of inviting the bids -a consolidated bid, breakdown of bids and both - it remains to be seen if it will be a level-playing field. Those with an industry perspective say a consolidated bid will not allow market-specific bidders like Amazon and Yahoo - looking to cut the cheque from a digital viewpoint - to contest on equal footing because the option of a consolidated bid heavily tilts the game in favour of the television broadcaster.
While the cricket board's logic is that keeping all options open allows it to look at revenue maximization, industry experts say the digital market is clearly a far bigger and a more dynamic industry going further, which BCCI is unwilling to explore keeping broadcaster interests in mind.
"A separate bid for digital will force the rights-owner to do a deferred live of matches whereas if one party owns digital and broadcast both, then there's no restriction. Where's the logic in this?
Why not have a paywall instead?
This is like suppressing a market that hasn't even woken up yet," says an industry executive.
The ball lies in the Supreme Court now, considering if an eauction is called for, there are those who will persist for a change in the bidding process.
Companies that have picked the ITT for IPL media rights
Star India Pvt Ltd, Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt Ltd, Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd, Reliance Jio Digital, Yahoo, Followon Interactive Media, Times Internet Ltd, Gulf DTH, SuperSport International, GroupM Media India, beIN IP, Econet Media Group, Sky UK, ESPN Digital Media, BTG Legal Service, BT Sport, Twitter, Facebook, Discovery, Airtel, Yahoo and DAZN Perform Group.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...20-bidders-join-race/articleshow/60169054.cms
The submissions, earlier scheduled to take place on August 28, had to be postponed by four days because of matters related to taxation and impending bank holidays. In the first round of clarifications on the ITT sent out last Friday, the Indian cricket board had informed potential bidders about the same.
The list of those who have picked up the ITT will be submitted to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, when the petition submitted by MP Subramanian Swamy - asking that the IPL rights should be sold through an e-auction to ensure transparency - will come up for hearing.
Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who is also hearing the matter concerning the BCCI in its long standing legal tussle with the Cricket Association of Bihar, will hear Swamy's petition.
Swamy, in his petition, and later in a chat with TOI, had mentioned that given the fact that the Government of India follows the e-auction process as a norm, and considering "e-auctions ensure greater process control, increased transparency, shorter lead times and an extremely competitive price discovery environment," it is the way forward.
The BCCI, however, stated that "cricket is not coal" and "e-auction of rights will not help discover the best value".
In the meantime, as the fraternity waits for the Supreme Court to show the way forward, TOI has learned that Star India Pvt Ltd, Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt Ltd, Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd and Reliance Jio Digital lead a list of 20-odd companies that have picked up the ITT, with another internet giant Yahoo joining the race. Others in the fray include Followon Interactive Media, Times Internet Ltd, Gulf DTH, SuperSport International, GroupM Media India, beIN IP, Econet Media Group, Sky UK, ESPN Digital Media, BTG Legal Service, BT Sport, Twitter, Facebook, Discovery, Airtel, Yahoo and DAZN Perform Group.
While it certainly happens to be an attractive line-up, the fact that BCCI has kept all options open in terms of inviting the bids -a consolidated bid, breakdown of bids and both - it remains to be seen if it will be a level-playing field. Those with an industry perspective say a consolidated bid will not allow market-specific bidders like Amazon and Yahoo - looking to cut the cheque from a digital viewpoint - to contest on equal footing because the option of a consolidated bid heavily tilts the game in favour of the television broadcaster.
While the cricket board's logic is that keeping all options open allows it to look at revenue maximization, industry experts say the digital market is clearly a far bigger and a more dynamic industry going further, which BCCI is unwilling to explore keeping broadcaster interests in mind.
"A separate bid for digital will force the rights-owner to do a deferred live of matches whereas if one party owns digital and broadcast both, then there's no restriction. Where's the logic in this?
Why not have a paywall instead?
This is like suppressing a market that hasn't even woken up yet," says an industry executive.
The ball lies in the Supreme Court now, considering if an eauction is called for, there are those who will persist for a change in the bidding process.
Companies that have picked the ITT for IPL media rights
Star India Pvt Ltd, Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt Ltd, Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd, Reliance Jio Digital, Yahoo, Followon Interactive Media, Times Internet Ltd, Gulf DTH, SuperSport International, GroupM Media India, beIN IP, Econet Media Group, Sky UK, ESPN Digital Media, BTG Legal Service, BT Sport, Twitter, Facebook, Discovery, Airtel, Yahoo and DAZN Perform Group.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...20-bidders-join-race/articleshow/60169054.cms
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