IPL: Viacom18 bags the digital rights of the IPL 2023-2027 cycle?

Everything is a spectacle when it comes to the Indian Premier League (IPL), even the auction for the tournament's media rights. The bidding has now come to an end and reports suggest that Viacom18 have come out as the winners for its digital rights. 

As reported by ANI, the television rights of IPL have been sold for a massive Rs. 57.5 crore (per match), while the digital rights have been sold for Rs. 50 crore (per match). The final numbers for the television rights and digital rights are at Rs. 23,575 crore and 20,500 crore respectively.

While the names of the winners have not yet been officially announced, reports suggest that Sony have won the television rights while Viacom18 or Jio have won the digital rights. 

The action was divided into four packages, with Packages A and B being for the TV broadcast rights for the Indian sub-continent and digital-only grouping for the same region respectively. Reportedly, the value of the media rights have grown more than two and a half times to what Star India paid for in 2017. The latest auction was for the rights of the IPL 2023-2027 cycle. 

If reports are to be believed, it would mean that it is the first time the Reliance backed Viacom18 have the rights to the cricketing spectacle. Sony on the other hand, were the owners of the broadcast rights to the IPL in its starting year. Sony had paid Rs 8200 crore for the 2008-16 cycle.

Viacom18, Disney-Star, Sony and Zee were involved in a bidding war for the broadcast rights of the tournament, which is one of the most popular cricketing events in the world.