Amazon’s rivalry in India with oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries appears to be like set to move to the cricket area, the place they may probably battle media heavyweights for telecast rights to India’s premier cricket league with its a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of viewers.

Amazon and Reliance are anticipated to tackle India models of Sony Group and Walt Disney for unique five-year TV and digital broadcast rights to the two-month sequence of matches, at a price that might run to a report Rs. 50,000 crore, sources accustomed to the businesses’ plans stated.

“Cricket is the second-biggest sport in the world with two-and-a-half billion fans and IPL is like its Super Bowl,” stated Anton Rublievskyi, head of Parimatch, a betting firm that marketed on the Indian Premier League (IPL) final 12 months. “If you’re not there, you do not exist.”

Disney-owned Star India, which is likely one of the high broadcasters in India together with Sony and its deliberate acquisition of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, paid Rs. 16,348 crore for the digital and tv rights till 2022. The league’s matches reached 350 million viewers through the first half of the 2021 season alone, throughout Disney+ Hotstar and the Star Sports channels.

But conventional media companies now face stiff competitors from deep-pocketed rivals like Reliance, India’s largest retailer, and Amazon, two billionaire-led behemoths competing for the fast-growing e-commerce market whereas increase their digital platforms. Amazon runs the Netflix-like rival Prime Video, whereas Reliance affords JioTV to its telecom and broadband subscribers.

Amazon and Reliance are already locked in a pitched courtroom battle over the acquisition of property of Future Group, one other huge India retailer.

Reliance can be in talks with traders, together with foreigners, to boost as much as $1.6 billion (about Rs. 11,920 crore) for its broadcasting three way partnership, Viacom18.

“Winning this bid is critical to Reliance’s long-term plans for its Jio platform and its digital expansion,” stated a supply with direct information of the corporate’s technique.

“Everything that has happened at Viacom18 in the last few months, like buying rights to the Spanish La Liga and setting up a sports channel, has been building up to this,” the supply stated.

Reliance and Viacom18 didn’t reply to requests for remark.

Amazon, whose Prime Video platform just lately started live-streaming cricket matches, desires to win the IPL rights to broaden the platform’s consumer base, one other business supply accustomed to the corporate’s considering stated.

An Amazon India spokesperson didn’t reply to a request for remark.

The firm lacks a TV platform and would want to herald a TV companion or may solely bid for the digital portion. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which runs the tender, awarded it in 2017 to a consolidated TV and digital bid from Star, which surpassed any of the mixed particular person bids.

Industry sources count on flexibility from the BCCI given the prospects for report funds by bidders together with a deep-pocketed digital-only participant like Amazon.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah, in an interview with Reuters, stated the board had studied varied fashions and proposals however he didn’t touch upon particulars or the probably greenback worth of the bids.

“We will do our best to derive the right value a tournament like the IPL deserves,” he stated.

Disney India didn’t reply to a request for remark, however Disney CEO Bob Chapek informed a current earnings teleconference that the corporate was assured of reaching its subscriber targets in India even with out IPL rights.

Sony’s India leisure unit stated it might consider bids for each broadcast and digital rights.

Some within the business nevertheless, are questioning the sharp rise in the price of the rights and whether or not it’s sustainable.

“The IPL has got to a stage where it’s now too big to fail and therefore everyone who is part of the ecosystem is propping it up,” stated promoting business veteran Meenakshi Menon.

© Thomson Reuters 2022