The International Cricket Council (ICC), which just released its first Invitation to Tender (ITT) for media rights for the subsequent cycle of events beginning in 2024, has stated that due to the complexity of its tender, it will not conduct an electronic auction and will continue only sealed bids.
It’s time for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to finalize its media rights agreement post-2023 after the Indian Premier League (IPL) secured lucrative media rights from its 2023–24 season. After the ICC World Cup 2023, ICC’s existing media rights agreement with Star Sports for the sub-continent expires. The sub-continent area, which is anticipated to get the highest offer of any territory, is where the ICC intends to start its new media rights agreement. It has chosen not to use an electronic auction, a method that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) employed for the IPL.
The ICC explained the reasoning behind the same by pointing out the complexity of the rights. It would be incorrect to claim that there is no transparency, according to ICC’s chief commercial officer Anurag Dahiya. He said “ It would be wrong to say there is no transparency. We are not using the e-auction clearly because we have a complicated set of rights. We are inviting sealed bids, a methodology we employed in the past. It is not a straightforward single territory and single package of rights. We have different combinations.”
“We sell men’s and women’s rights separately and test the market for four and eight years. And then there is the packaging of digital and TV. To address all that, an e-auction is too complicated. That is why we have remained with a sealed bid methodology. It is not unusual what we are doing,” Dahiya reported IANS
He concluded with the statement, “The ICC has done away with its composite global bid for all regions and has not fixed a base price, while the winners would be announced during September’s opening week, with the bid deadline being August 22. “Our philosophy has been to have direct contact with the broadcasters who have been servicing our fans. To achieve that, we thought it was best to go territory by territory.”
The ICC package requires broadcasters to submit claims for linear and digital rights for four and eight years, and it most importantly includes a provision for a composite, something the BCCI had avoided. Additionally, for a period of four years, the ICC is soliciting separate bids for women’s rights.
The T20 World Cup in September-October 2024, the U19 T20 World Cup in January 2025, the World Cup in November 2025, the T20 World Cup in June 2026, the U19 T20 World Cup in January 2027, and the T20 Champions Trophy in February 2027 are among the women’s tournaments.
Four T20 World Cups (2024, 26, 28, and 30), two Champions Trophies (2025 and 29), and two World Cups are included in the men’s tender (in 2027 and 31). In addition to the four Under 19 World Cups, there are four World Test Championship finals (in 2025, 27, 29, and 31). (in 2024, 26, 28, 30).
