The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) tender for the digital rights of the cash-rich Indian Premier League has received some huge response, as social media giants Facebook and Twitter are among the 18 entities that have purchased the Invitation to Tender (ITT).

The winning entity will get the television rights of India for 10 seasons of the league (2018-2017), digital rights of the country for 5 seasons (2018-2022) and the rest of the world media rights for 5 seasons (2018-2022).

The bid submission will take place on 25th of this month.

“The Indian Premier League media right ITT has received a massive response from the leading media and technology companies. The ITT document was available for purchase from September 19 to October 18, 2016,” the BCCI said in a statement.

Expressing his delight over the whole issue, BCCI president Anurag Thakur said:“This is going to be a historical moment for Indian cricket. I am pleased to see the overwhelming response from the media and technology companies for IPL Media Rights.”

“With the global trends of showcasing content on multiple platforms becoming increasingly important – TV, internet and mobile rights are up for grabs together this time. To have as many as 18 prospective bidders in the fray reinstates the faith of market forces in Indian Premier League,” he added.

Some other biggies in the hunt to bag the rights for the lucrative league are Star India Private Limited, Sony Pictures Networks Private Limited and Reliance Jio Digital Services Private Limited.

Praising the step from the board, BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke said that the latest step will help the league to become popular all over the world.

“This is a significant step for the board, and we are excited to have 18 prospective bidders for IPL media rights.

Our intention is to ensure the most comprehensive coverage of the IPL across the globe,” Shirke said.

Here is the list of 18 companies that have bought the tenders:

1 Star India Pvt. Ltd.
2 Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd.
3 Followon Interactive Media Pvt. Ltd.
4 Taj TV India Pvt. Ltd.
5 Sony Pictures Networks Pvt. Ltd.
6 Times Internet Ltd.
7 Supersport International (Pty) Ltd.
8 Reliance Jio Digital Services Pvt. Ltd.
9 Gulf DTH FZ LLC
10 GroupM Media India Pvt. Ltd.
11 beIN IP Ltd.
12 Econet Media Ltd.
13 SKY UK Ltd.
14 ESPN Digital Media (India) Pvt. Ltd
15 BTG Legal Services
16 BT PLC
17 Twitter Inc.
18 Facebook Inc.