The Indian broadcasting giant Sony Pictures Network (SPN) and Discovery conglomerate are bidding in the auction of the media rights for the widely acclaimed Twenty20 domestic, Indian Premier League (IPL), regarding the eleventh edition of the competition which is scheduled in 2018.
Interestingly, the national cricket body Board of Control for India (BCCI), has set the last date of buying the documents for bidding on August 24. Moreover, the results will be announced on August 28, as the bidding procedure will be concluded on the same day owing to the different operations.
On July 21, the BCCI has opened the window for the bidding process which has received the warm response from the different bidders in India.
It’s pertinent to mention the bidding included the digital media rights including the television rights, earlier claimed by Sony Pictures, as the ten-year programme has expired after the completion of ten years.
However, the short-paced competition kick started in 2008 which witnessed as many as eight IPL franchises. As the broadcasters have brought the bidding papers after BCCI invited the big players for the five-year term which is further set for the year of 2018 to 2022.
Interestingly, as the part of Communications for Discover, the broadcasting firm has launched a sports channel as DSPORT in order to attract the sports-based audiences in the Indian subcontinent. The prime focus of the corporation is to bring all the sports action for home-based audiences under one set-up in the competitive market which has been taken to a new high by the emergence of technology.
Earlier, both the broadcasting networks have confirmed their participation in the high-profile bidding after ESPN entertained as the official partner between 2015 to 2018.
(Also Read: Twitterati Welcomes The Return Of Chennai Super Kings For IPL 2018)
Earlier the Chinese mobile giant Vivo has claimed the sponsorship rights for the IPL after paying the staggering amount of 2,199 crores.
While retaining the deal after paying massive bucks, the Vivo firm urged to expand the market in a country like India, has earlier opted for the title sponsors in the ninth and tenth edition of the IPL in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Before the investment increased up to 500 percent in the five-year deal, Vivo had to pay around INR 100 crore per year for the period of two years. Coming to the conclusion, the fans will witness the major revamp during the upcoming edition among the IPL franchises, as crowd-favourite team Chennai Super Kings would make a return alongside Rajasthan Royals after being defunct as a part of the investigation for two years owing to the fixing-scandal of 2013.
For 2016 and 2017, both the teams were replaced by tenth edition’s runners-up Rising Pune Supergiant and hapless Gujarat Lions.