IPL media rights auction concludes; value stays at Rs 43,050 crore

The per-match value for IPL has touched $13.5 million (or Rs 105 cr), which is second only to America’s National Football League, which costs a broadcaster $17 million (Rs 132.26 crore) per match

The auction for the digital and television rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has concluded within an hour of the resumption of the bidding process on Monday. A decision was taken after bidding was opened at 11 am, persons in the know said. Bidders agreed, said sources, to conclude the auction for the digital and TV rights (packages A and B) after a fierce fight on Sunday, which took the combined value (of TV/digital) past the Rs 43,000-crore mark.

This had increased the value of the rights by over two-and-a-half times the previous rights value of Rs 16,347.5 crore, paid by Disney-Star in 2017. It is already Rs 10,000 crore more than the reserve price of nearly Rs 33,000 crore set by the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) for the current media rights cycle.

Also, the per-match value of the IPL has touched $13.5 million (or Rs 105 crore) after bidding closed on Sunday at 6 pm. This is second only to America’s National Football League, which costs a broadcaster $17 million (Rs 132.26 crore) per match. The English Premier League costs $11 million (Rs 85.58 crore) per match…

IPL broadcasting rights: Amazon plans to pull out of Rs 60,000 cr race

 Amazon’s surprise pullout leaves the field open to Ambani’s Reliance, Disney and Sony Group Corp

Amazon.com Inc. is planning to withdraw from a heated competition for the rights to stream Indian Premier League cricket matches, according to people familiar with the matter, ceding one of the world’s most popular sporting contests to rivals from Walt Disney Co. to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd.

The rights had been estimated to fetch an unprecedented $7.7 billion (nearly Rs 60,000 crore). The US giant is planning to throw in the towel rather than get into a bidding war, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing internal deliberations. While Amazon has already invested more than $6 billion in the country, more spending merely for the online streaming rights to the league didn’t make business sense, they said.

Representatives for Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Amazon’s surprise pullout leaves the field open to Ambani’s Reliance, Disney and Sony Group Corp., who’re betting the game will help them dominate an Indian consumer market increasingly going online. Whichever company scores the deal could also bolster their position as a leading media player in a country of 1.4 billion where the English sport enjoys cult-like status.

Lockdown 4.0: Do new govt rules pave the way for decision on IPL 2020?

As stadiums are opened for cricketers’ training in lockdown 4.0, the question arises whether the 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) can be held in near future?

Stadiums and sports complexes will reopen for athletes to train, according to the government’s new guidelines for extending the national lockdown to contain the coronavirus. Spectators won’t be allowed still, raising hopes that the 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) can be held sometime soon.

The government has, however, listed sports events in the prohibited category, along with domestic and international flights till May 31. Responding to the new lockdown 4.0 guidelines, BCCI treasurer Arun Kumar Dhumal said: “Taking into the account the restrictions on air travel and movement of people till May 31, the BCCI will wait further before organising a skill-based training camp for its contracted players.” IPL 2020 was scheduled to begin from March 29 but BCCI decided to suspend the cricket extravaganza indefinitely because of the lockdown. Here are possible scenarios for the tournament.

Windows when IPL 2020 could be held

July-August : India cricket team is scheduled to tour Sri Lanka for limited over series in July and recently Sri Lanka board has requested BCCI to not cancel the tour. If BCCI doesn’t scrap India’s tour, most likely IPL could not take place in July-August…

Royal Challengers Bangalore unveils new logo ahead of 13th edition of IPL

A few days back RCB deleted its profile picture from its official twitter handle before removing all posts from its Instagram account too

The Virat Kohli-led Indian Premier League side Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday unveiled its new logo ahead of the upcoming season starting March 23. The club said the new logo design, which features a lion, “embodies the bold and fearless attitude” of the side.

Speaking on the launch of the new visual identity, Sanjeev Churiwala, Chairman of Royal Challengers Bangalore, said, “The elements in the logo is a commitment to continuously entertain and engage with fans who are the force behind Royal Challengers Bangalore. “We believe a change in identity for the club was necessary to effectively live and breathe this vision and celebrate the passion for cricket and playing bold,” he added.

Royal Challengers Bangalore recently announced a three-year partnership with Muthoot Fincorp Ltd. A few days back RCB deleted its profile picture from its official twitter handle before removing all posts from its Instagram account too. The club’s top players such as skipper Kohli, Yuzvendra Chahal and AB de Villiers had posted queries on the changes a few days back.

Leander Paes won Grand Slams at 42, I can at least play cricket: Sreesanth

Sreesanth, along with Mumbai spinner Ankit Chavan and Haryana’s Ajit Chandila, were suspended for life by a BCCI disciplinary committee in 2013, a decision that the player had challenged in court

Sports News: “If Leander Paes can win Grand Slams at 42, I can at least play some cricket at 36,” India cricketer S Sreesanth said after the Supreme Court set aside the life ban imposed on him by the BCCI for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. Sreesanth, along with Mumbai spinner Ankit Chavan and Haryana’s Ajit Chandila, were suspended for life by a BCCI disciplinary committee in 2013, a decision that the player had challenged in court.

Speaking to PTI after a favourable verdict by the apex court on Friday, a relieved Sreesanth said: “I don’t know what life has in store for me after all these years. It’s six years and I haven’t played cricket, which was my life.”

“I hope that the BCCI respects the verdict of the country’s highest court and allows me to at least get back to the cricket field. I hope that at least now I can walk to a school cricket ground and train there without being told that I am not allowed. I just want to play whatever cricket I can,” said Sreesanth, who has been a part of the 2007 World T20 and 2011 ODI World Cup winning squads. But age is not something that he feels will be a factor in trying to make a comeback to competitive cricket.

“Your age is as much as you feel. I would again like to play club cricket in Scotland. I wanted to play last year but didn’t get permission. I can’t play club cricket in England at the moment as I have not played first-class cricket for six years now,” said Sreesanth, who has represented the country in 27 Tests, 53 ODIs and 10 T20 Internationals, respectively.

IPL 2018: Dhawan's unbeaten 77 helps Sunrisers crush Royals by 9 wickets

The Sunrisers produced a disciplined bowling display to restrict the Royals to a paltry 125 for 9

Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan capitalised on a reprieve when on nought as he smashed his way to an unbeaten 77 to help Sunrisers Hyderabad thrash Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets in their opening match of the IPL-11 here today.

Chasing 126 for a win after the Sunrisers' bowlers had produced a disciplined display to restrict the Royals to a paltry total, Dhawan was dropped in the first over by captain Ajinkya Rahane and that blunder cost the visiting side dear in the end.

Dhawan (77 not out off 57 balls) later grew into confidence and in the company of his captain Kane Williamson (36 not out off 35 balls), he tore apart the Royals bowling attack as the Sunrisers overhauled the target with 4.1 overs to spare.

The absence of the disgraced Australian batsman David Warner at the top of the order was not felt as Dhawan and Williamson stitched 121 runs for the unbroken second wicket from 14.2 overs.

Wriddhiman Saha, who was promoted to the top of order to take Warner's place, was out for five in the second over but from there on Dhawan and Williamson denied any success to the listless Royals bowlers as the home side began their IPL campaign on a winning note.

Dhawan was the more aggressor of the duo as he hit 13 fours and a six to carry his bat through the innings while Williamson had three fours and a six as the Sunrisers reached to 127 for 1 in 15.5 overs.

Earlier, the Sunrisers produced a disciplined bowling display to restrict the Royals to a paltry 125 for 9.

The home side bowlers justified captain Williamson's decision to put the opposition in after winning the toss as the Royals struggled to score runs on a pitch which got the turn as the match wore on.

The Royals could not build partnerships and they crumbled under the pressure of a disciplined bowling attack of the Sunrisers.

Sanju Samson top-scored with a 42-ball 49 and his 46-run stand with Rahane (13) for the second wicket was the highest partnership for the Royals. One-down Samson looked like he would anchor the innings after Rahane was out early but he also got dismissed in the 14th over when he was just one run short of a half century.

For the Sunrisers, which have one of the best bowling units in this IPL, Shakib Al Hasan and Siddhart Kaul grabbed two wickets apiece while Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, Australian pacer Billy Stanlake and Bhuvneshwar got one wicket each.

The Sunrisers got immediate success after the start of the match as the Royals' opening batsman D Arcy Short was caught short of his crease with Williamson's rocket throw from the mid-off rattled the wickets in the final ball of Bhuvneshwar Kumar's opening over.

Rahane, who was captaining the Royals after disgraced former Australia skipper Steve Smith was barred by the BCCI from taking part in the IPL, got out in a wrong time as he was caught by Rashid at deep off the bowling of Kaul.

A miserly over from Rashid was followed by Ben Stokes' (5) dismissal off Stanlake as the Royals were 71 for 3 at the halfway mark.

Samson, meanwhile, was going steady for some time but wickets fell at the other end. Rahul Tripathi (17) gave him some company but did not last long as he became Shakib's first victim.

Samson himself followed suit three balls later, giving Shakib his second wicket of the night and at that stage the Royals innings was in tatters.

Krishnappa Gowtham could not open his account from the two balls he faced and fell victim of Kaul. Englishman Jos Butler was left to add some runs to the Royals kitty but he too could score just six from nine balls.

Click here for IPL 2018

IPL media rights: Winner Star TV will now have monopoly over cricket

Star walked away with all the rights and full honors, laying claim to 300 days of cricket over 5 years, at a price tag about Rs. 54.5 crore a match

The CEO of the BCCI, Rahul Johri, had predicted before the IPL media auction that the rights would fetch Rs 18,000 crore. He was not far wrong. The winner, Star TV, on Monday picked up the 5-years broadcast and digital rights for an eye-popping Rs16,348 crore to stump out incumbents Sony who held the rights of the IPL since its very inception 10 years ago, having bid Rs 8,200 crore in 2008.

The initial tender documents had been picked up by 24 entities: Star India Pvt. Ltd., Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd., Followon Interactive Media Pvt. Ltd., Taj TV India Pvt. Ltd., Sony Pictures Networks Pvt. Ltd., Times Internet Ltd., Supersport International (Pty) Ltd., Reliance Jio Digital Services Pvt. Ltd., Gulf DTH FZ LLC, GroupM Media India Pvt. Ltd., beIN IP Ltd., Econet Media Ltd., SKY UK Ltd., ESPN Digital Media (India) Pvt. Ltd, BTG Legal Services, BT PLC, Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc., DAZN / Perform Group, Discovery, Yupp TV, Airtel and BAM Tech and Oath (Yahoo). Of these, only 14 showed up yesterday at the auction. Prominent amongst those missing were e-commerce giant Amazon and microblogging site Twitter. Also missing from the lineup were Discovery, Yahoo and ESPN Digital. Group M, the media buying company, who were expected to bid on behalf of a consortium of clients, gave it a miss.

The highest bid for the broadcast rights came from Sony Pictures Network. They bid Rs 11,050 crore. The highest bid for digital rights came from none else but Facebook who placed an offer of Rs 3,900 crore. Telecom operators Airtel and Reliance Jio were not far behind Facebook, bidding Rs 3,280 crore and Rs 3,075 crore, respectively. Star actually lagged in each category bid, offering Rs 6,196 crore for broadcast rights and a mere Rs 1,443 crore for digital rights. But eventually, Star proved to be the smartest bidder, and a winner, with a global bid of Rs 16,348 crore that beat the sum of the highest bids in individual categories which totaled Rs 15,820 crore. Star walked away with all the rights and full honors, laying claim to 300 days of cricket over 5 years, at a price tag about Rs 54.5 crore a match.

This includes 1a. Indian Sub-continent Broadcast (TV) rights

1b. Indian Sub-continent Digital rights. And Rest of World (ROW) media and digital rights for 1. Middle East 2. Africa 3. Europe 4. USA 5. Australia and New Zealand.

Compared to the Rs 43 crore per match that it currently pays to the BCCI for India’s international matches in India, this is a 20% increase, which on the face of it is not such a major issue perhaps. But the sheer size and scale of the overall Rs 16,348 crore bid have left many media watchers gasping for breath.

What are the key issues with the Star bid?
1. Did Star pay over the top?
2. Will Star now have a monopoly over cricket?
3. Will the market support the increased prices for advertising?
4. Are digital rights as valuable?
5. Are ROW markets as monetisable?
6. Will the game of cricket gain from this hyper bidding?
Let us address each of these issues one by one.

1. Did Star pay over the top?
Star bid Rs16,348 crore against the Rs15,820 crore sum that was the total for the highest bids in individual categories. This consolidated Star global bid was just a teeny-weeny 3% higher but sufficient for Star to pip Sony, Facebook, Airtel, Jio and other smaller players to the post. Star’s bidding strategy was flawless. And bang-on. ...(Read more)

 

IPL final 2017: Mumbai Indians beat Rising Pune Supergiant; Dhoni defeated

For Mahendra Singh Dhoni, it was yet another final that ended in a defeat

LATEST| Magnificent death bowling saw Mumbai Indians snatch an incredible one-run victory from the jaws of defeat against Rising Pune Supergiant in a thrilling grand finale of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday.

This was Mumbai Indians third IPL trophy in 10 editions and more special for their skipper Rohit Sharma, who is the only captain to win a hat-trick of titles. Rohit has in fact ow won four IPL titles (one for Deccan Chargers in 2009).

For Mahendra Singh Dhoni, it was yet another final that ended in a defeat -- fifth in seven summit clashes.

In one of the closest finals during the 10 editions, the trio of Jasprit Bumrah (2/26 in 4 overs), Mitchell Johnson (3/26 in 4 overs) and Lasith Malinga (0/21 in 4 overs) were brilliant at the death defending a lowly total of 129/8 as Supergiant were restricted to 128 for 6 at the end.

It was Johnson, who kept his nerve during the final over where 11 runs were needed. Manoj Tiwary smacked the first one to mid-wicket boundary bringing the eqaution down to 7 from 5 balls.

However the next two deliveries turned out to be disaster with both Tiwary and skipper Steve Smith (51, 50 balls) were caught in the deep.

With four required off final ball and 3 for a Super Over, Dan Christian went for an impossible 3rd run only to be run out as Mumbai players celebrated like never before.

Credit should also be given to Bumrah and Malinga for giving away only 10 runs between them in the 17th and 18th over which suddenly increased the pressure.

While the target was an easy one, it turned out to be tricky with 47 needed off the last five overs.

With Mahendra Singh Dhoni (10) at the crease in company of Smith, the Krunal Pandya over yielded 14 runs. Dhoni square cut Krunal and then Smith played a reverse pull for a six to get 14 runs off the over.

But death overs specialist Jasprit Bumrah bowled a fuller delivery inducing a thickish edge from Dhoni to bring some cheer back in the MI camp.| READ MORE....

IPL 2017 auction LIVE: English bowler Tyman Mills goes for Rs 12 cr to RCB

Tyman Mills was in demand as four teams bid for him

11: 00 am Tyman Mills was in demand as four teams bid for him, ultimately going to RCB for Rs 12 crore. A total of Rs 6.9 crore was spent in acquiring fast bowlers while wicketkeepers seemed out of favour as only one out of the batch of six found a buyer, that too at base price

KKR entered the bidding for the first time this season with Trent Boult. The Knightriders have just four overseas players in the squad currently and need more players from abroad. They were joined in the bid battle by Mumbai Indians IPL Auction who bowed out at KKR’s bid of Rs 5 crore. Boult played for the Hyderabad team in 2016 and this year, will don the KKR jersey.

English bowler Tyman Mills saw some aggressive bidding as well as Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab held their ground against each other. Both the teams did not shy from upping the stakes till Mumbai bowed out at Punjab’s bid of Rs 7 crore. At this point, the bid war between KKR and RCB started. RCB came out winner with a bid of Rs 12 crore.

Australian Patrick Cummins was fought over by Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevil, the former opening the bid at the reserve price of Rs 2 crore. They however bowed out at Rs 4.5 crore, thus giving Delhi the winning bid and Cummins’ services for the 2017 edition. Fellow autralian Mitchell Johnson was up next (base price Rs 2 crore). Mumbai Indians opened the bid for the fast bowler and snapped him up at reserve price.

South African fast bowler Kyle Abbott (reserve price Rs 1.5 crore) went unsold. Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma (Rs 2 crore base price) shared the same fate, as he surprisingly remained unsold in the first round of bidding.

After three unsold players in the wicketkeeper category, the Mumbai Indians picked up Nicholas Pooran of West Indies at base price (Rs 30 lakh). The two wicketkeeprs to follow – West Inidan Johnson Charles and Sri Lankan Dinesh Chandimal too remained unsold.

10:30 Ben Stokes goes to Pune for Rs 14.5 crAM England all-rounder Ben Stokes was the costliest buy after the first round of IPL players' auction today, going to Rising Pune Supergiants for a whopping Rs 14.50 crore (USD 2.16 million) after an intense bidding war. Pune Supergiants, who removed Mahendra Singh Dhoni from captaincy, entered late into the bidding at Rs 13 crore and clinched the deal at Rs 14.50 crore defeating bids from Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Read More