ICC auction: Indian sports broadcasters have raised concerns about the “lack of transparency
ICC auction: Indian sports broadcasters have raised concerns about the “lack of transparency” in the upcoming media rights auction process for International Cricket Council (ICC) events. Including the ICC Men’s World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy.
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ICC auction: India is by far the largest market for cricket-
While Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) is learned to have written a letter to the governing body of world cricket, other potential bidders have also raised red flags on four issues, said highly placed sources. The ICC is auctioning Indian media rights separately from global media rights — India is by far the largest market for cricket.
ICC auction: The top four broadcasters-
The top four broadcasters — DisneyStar, SPN, Zee Entertainment Enterprises NSE -1.65 %, and Viacom18 — who have bought the tender document, have criticized the use of sealed envelope bidding rather than e-auction. They have also flagged the three-week gap between bid submission and announcement of winner; lack of clarity on the multiplier formula for four-year rights versus eight-year rights; and the demand for a 5% upfront deposit. Executives of all four companies spoke to ET on the condition of anonymity. The broadcasters are of the view that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already shown the way to do transparent e-auctions, and the ICC can learn from them.
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Sealed bid auction and then wait for three weeks-
“In today’s age, it is unheard of to do a sealed bid auction and then wait for three weeks. Why should my financial bid be with them for three weeks,” said a top executive of one of the leading broadcasting networks. He further added that the ICC could get all the directors in the room and open the bids. “Instead, they are waiting for three weeks.
ET had reported earlier that the ICC had not kept any reserve price-
Is it for re-negotiating?” he asked. ET had reported earlier that the ICC had not kept any reserve price and was inviting closed bids from the bidders by August end. An ICC official told ET that the governing body was looking at the third week of August for the submission of the bid and the first week of September to review the bids and formulate recommendations to the board for final approval.
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We are keeping it a flexible process-
A senior source close to the ICC Board said they are open to going for the second round in case the bids are not up to the mark, or if there is room for improvement. “We are keeping it as a flexible process,” he said. “In the first round when people are putting in their bids, if we find that the number that we have got is not good enough as far as our evaluations go, or we feel that it should be more, or if there are two or three bidders who are very close to each other and we think that they can bid a bit more, or we can get more out of them, then we might have another round,” he said.
Want a high number with the right amount of security-
I want a high number with the right amount of security,” he added. The last rights cycle (2015-2023) cost Star Sports $2.02 billion for global rights. Experts feel that around $1.2-1.3 billion of that should have been apportioned to India. The eight-year rights will include two ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups (2027, 2031), four Men’s T20 World Cups (2024, 2026, 2028, and 2030), two Champions Trophies (2025, 2029), and four World Test Championship finals (2025, 2027, 2029, and 2031).
