Leading sports broadcaster Star India has won the VIVO Indian Premier League’s (IPL’s) Global Media and Digital broadcast rights for the five year period from 2018 to 2022.
The Media Broadcast & Digital Rights were won by Star India through an Invitation to Tender (ITT) bidding process with the broadcasters winning global consolidated bid of INR 16,347.50 Crore. Incidentally, 14 bids were received, earlier in the morning from beIN IP Ltd., Star India Pvt. Ltd., Followon Interactive Media Pvt. Ltd, Sony Pictures Networks Pvt. Ltd., Times Internet Ltd, Supersport International (Pty) Ltd., Reliance Jio Digital Services Pvt. Ltd., Gulf DTH FZ LLC, Econet Media Ltd., Facebook Inc., DAZN / Perform Group, Yupp TV, Airtel and BAM Tech.
C K Khanna, Acting President, BCCI said, “We are happy to announce Star India as our new Global Media and Digital partner. We thank all the bidders that participated in the process. We have ensured that transparency of the highest form was maintained throughout the process. I would like to thank cricketers and franchises for making the league one of the eminent sporting leagues in the world. I would also like to thank all the fans for showing their continuous support for the VIVO IPL for the last 10 years.”
Amitabh Choudhary, Acting Secretary, BCCI said, “We welcome Star India on board as our broadcast and digital partner. Cricket as a sport has evolved over the years, and today’s bids were a reiteration of VIVO IPL’s growing global popularity.”
Uday Shankar, Chairman & CEO, Star India, said, “We are honoured to be selected as IPL’s Global Media Rights Partner and we thank BCCI for conducting such a transparent process. The VIVO Indian Premier League is undoubtedly one of the most exciting sporting leagues in the world and this acquisition of media rights reaffirms our commitment to serve cricket fans and make cricket even bigger than it is. We are delighted that in Star, IPL has found its natural home. We look forward to bringing this exciting format to our audiences across the world in a quality that all our viewers are accustomed to both on television as well as on digital on Hotstar.
Mr. Uday Shankar further added, “At Star India, we believe that Indian sports have barely scratched the surface of its potential. Both the viewership of sports and more importantly participation in sports is something that we would like to grow substantially over the next few years. The acquisition of these rights is symbolic of our commitment to not just cricket but to the growth of a wider sports culture in the country.”
Rahul Johri, CEO, BCCI said, “We are grateful to the Supreme Court, the Committee of Administrators and the office bearers of BCCI. We are also thankful to Deloitte and our Legal partners Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas for their support in carrying out a fair and transparent bidding process efficiently. We would like to welcome Star India on board as our IPL Global Media and Digital partner, we believe this is a global benchmark and all the stakeholders of IPL will significantly benefit from this association with Star India.”