Star bags ICC rights: Here's all you need to know
Star Sports have retained the global cricket rights to broadcast all ICC men's and women's from 2024 to 2027. The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Saturday, announced that Disney Star has won both TV and digital rights. The global cricket body opened the bids on Friday. Notably, Star faced competition from Viacom 18, Sony Sports, and Zee Network. Here are further details.
The bid price of Disney Star
The ICC is yet to reveal the bid value of Disney Star. It is understood that the worth is higher than the $1.44 billion benchmark set initially. "Disney Star won following a single round sealed bid process which has yielded a significant uplift to the rights fee from the previous cycle, continuing the impressive growth and reach of cricket," an ICC release stated.
Star had the rights of previous cycle
As per ESPNcricinfo, Star owned the last set of ICC rights for approximately $2.1 billion. Star had acquired the rights for an eight-year cycle. However, the final bid included global rights - both TV and digital. As far as the upcoming cycle is concerned, the digit streaming is expected to generate far more revenue than in the current cycle.
A look at the packages
The rights for ICC events include different packages, one for TV only, one for digital only, and one for both. It is to note that men's and women's events will be treated separately. It has been learned Star's plans for women's cricket impressed the ICC.
Other broadcasters in the race; ICC's plans
According to ESPNcricinfo, three other broadcasters placed their bids - Sony, Viacom, and Zee. There was also a process for a second round e-auction in place. However, Star apparently claimed an outright win. Meanwhile, the ICC plans to shift the attention to the US and UK markets before Christmas this year. The cricket body would then move to the rest of Asia.
Here are the upcoming ICC men's tournaments
India are scheduled to host the 2023 50-over World Cup. The West Indies and the USA will host the T20 WC in 2024. In the following year, Pakistan are scheduled to host the Champions Trophy, which last took place in 2017. The 2026 T20 WC will be hosted by India and Sri Lanka. South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia would host the 2027 50-over WC.
Star India bagged IPL TV rights (2023-27)
Earlier this year, Star India bagged the Indian Premier League (IPL) telecast rights (India) for the 2023-2027 cycle with a winning bid of Rs. 23,575 crore. Star had the highest bid in the first-ever e-auction of IPL media rights. In 2017, Star India bagged the IPL media rights (2018-22 cycle) for Rs. 16,347.5 crore. It was the biggest media rights deal in cricket.
