ICC has decided to issue its first Invitation To Tender (ITT) for media rights for the next cycle on Monday (June 20). The ICC apex body has gone to market with its media rights for the next eight-year cycle, and it has done so in an entirely different way than before. The ICC will go to market in India alone starting next week, reflecting the changing media landscape. Here in this article, we talk about ICC Media Rights In India.
The first ITT will only be accessible in India, with up to six bundles available in TV exclusively, digital-only, or a combination of the two. The ICC will sell rights to both men’s and women’s tournaments separately, as well as digital rights.
The ICC’s choice to go to India first reflects a determination to get the best business contract possible. The ICC has previously sold global rights to both men’s and women’s tournaments on a consolidated basis. No longer: the ICC intends to sell rights for various territories in the future, in the hopes of attracting more bids and therefore increasing the deal’s overall worth.
Before announcing its proposal for the world tournaments, the ICC waited for the BCCI to finish its media rights e-auction for the IPL, which brought in deals worth more than $US 6 billion. Before finalising its own plan, the ICC consulted the BCCI to evaluate the model utilised for the IPL rights auction. The ICC, unlike the BCCI, will continue to use the sealed-bids process “to motivate prospective bidders to submit their best bid for the events and package they want” according to a media statement.
Bidders can compete in 16 men’s events (spanning eight years) and six women’s events (spanning four years), totaling 362 and 103 matches, respectively. Only senior-level matches are included in these data; the men’s and women’s Under-19 World Cups (one-day and T20) will also be included, although they are in addition to these match figures. Four Under-19 World Cups, four T20 World Cups, two Champions Trophies, four World Test Championship finals, and two 50-over World Cups are among the 16 men’s competitions. Two T20 World Cups, two Under-19 T20 World Cups, one 50-over World Cup, and one T20 Champions Trophy will be among the six women’s competitions.
ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said that “International cricket consistently attracts huge audiences and that is driving significant interest from broadcasters for ICC events. We have more than one billion fans that passionately follow the game globally, and they will be looking forward to seeing the best players in the world competing for cricket’s most prestigious trophies.
“There has been significant growth in interest in women’s cricket over the last five years and we have made a long-term strategic commitment to accelerate that growth and unbundling the rights for our women’s events will play a huge role in that. We are looking for a broadcast partner who is excited by the role they will play in growing the women’s game and ensuring more fans than ever before can enjoy it,” he added.
