BCCI extends its contract with Star for women's matches
What's the story
BCCI has extended its media rights contract with Star India by 15 days (till April 15) to ensure the live telecast of Indian women's cricket team matches scheduled to take place next month. The extension means that the women's 3-match ODI series against England, which is part of ICC Women's ODI championship, will be broadcast without any hiccups.
2012-2018 deal
BCCI media rights deal is about to end
BCCI's 6-year media rights deal with Star India for the broadcast of Indian team's domestic and international matches at home, is nearing its end. While the contract has received a 15-day extension, the last date to receive tenders for the rights deal of next cycle has also been extended from March 27 to April 3. Star currently pays Rs. 43.2 cr per match (Test/ODI/T20).
2018-2023
New deal to be offered under three packages
BCCI will conduct an e-auction for rights deal for the period of 2018 to 2023. The deal has three packages: global TV rights and rest-of-the-world digital rights at a base price of Rs. 33 cr per match; digital rights for Indian sub-continent at a base price Rs. 7 cr, and a consolidated global rights at a base price of Rs. 40 cr.
Potential bidders
Strong competition expected
Losing its crown jewel 'IPL rights' to Star, Sony will go all out to secure BCCI deal to broadcast India's matches. They already have rights to broadcast cricket in England and Australia. On the digital front, Jio and Facebook will be strong contenders, especially since the BCCI has removed the mandatory 5-minute gap between TV and digital broadcast.