MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to sell the next cycle of the Indian Premier League (IPL) rights through tender, thus setting the stage for a battle royale between existing rights holder Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) and Star India.
SPNI, which has the first right of refusal as well as the right to match a counter-offer, will feel that the BCCI has not honoured the original agreement by opening the IPL rights for tender process. What course of action SPNI takes remains to be seen, including moving the court.
Sony, which recently signed an agreement to acquire Ten Sports Network from Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) for $385 million, will do its best to retain the lucrative rights. Star India, on the other hand, will make an all-out bid to snatch the rights from its archrival.
Despite being obligated by the contract to offer the first right of refusal to Sony, the BCCI has decided to go through the tender process to award the IPL media rights, as it is under constant scanner by the apex court to ensure transparency in the process. In fact, one of the key recommendations of the Lodha committee, which was formed by the Supreme Court to clean up the BCCI, was to award future commercial rights through free and fair tendering process. The BCCI has invited Sony to participate in the bidding. “We believe in transparency. We have made it very clear that anyone who wants to participate will have to go through the bidding process. Sony has been invited to participate in the bidding process.
Anurag Thakur said praised the role Sony had played in making the IPL the world’s most popular cricket league. He also reiterated that the board did not want any litigation and would not deal with anyone who was in litigation with the BCCI. The last provision, regarding litigation, puts SPNI on the spot if it chooses to move the court.
An interesting part of the tender process is that the BCCI is not obligated to accept the highest financial bid and it retains the discretion to amend the process any time. Bidders are also required to submit signed media rights agreement with the bid.
BCCI chief executive officer Rahul Johri said. Deloitte will handle the financial due diligence and Amarchand Mangaldas the legal due diligence.
BCCI offers 3 rights packages:
1) Indian subcontinent TV rights;
2) Indian subcontinent digital rights; and 3) rest of the world TV and digital rights.
The Indian subcontinent TV and digital rights are by far the most valuable rights. Of these, only the Indian subcontinent TV rights are for a period of 10 years (2018–27).
while the remaining two rights packages are for five years (2018–22) each.
Bidders can bid for any combination of the rights package.
The BCCI has said that television broadcasters in non-news category are eligible to bid for Indian subcontinent TV rights. For the Indian subcontinent digital rights, broadcasters, internet operators and mobile operators are eligible to bid. The ROW media rights are open to bidding for broadcasters, internet operators as well as media agencies. The bidders should not be under litigation with the BCCI.
Dates for the tender process The ITT is available for purchase from 19 September and the last day for the purchase of ITT is 18 October. The last day for seeking clarifications is 4 October. The last day for submission of bid is 25 October, 9.30 am, at the venue specified in the ITT. Interested parties will have to pay tender fee to receive ITT.
The bids will have to be submitted in two envelopes, broadly Envelopes A and B. Envelope A will have the eligibility bid while Envelope B should have financial bid and signed media rights agreement.
According to the BCCI, only Envelopes B of compliant bids will be opened while non-compliant bids will be returned or destroyed.
Read more at: Stage set for Sony vs Star as BCCI opens tender process to sell IPL telecast rights | TelevisionPost.com | TelevisionPost.com
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SPNI, which has the first right of refusal as well as the right to match a counter-offer, will feel that the BCCI has not honoured the original agreement by opening the IPL rights for tender process. What course of action SPNI takes remains to be seen, including moving the court.
Sony, which recently signed an agreement to acquire Ten Sports Network from Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) for $385 million, will do its best to retain the lucrative rights. Star India, on the other hand, will make an all-out bid to snatch the rights from its archrival.
Despite being obligated by the contract to offer the first right of refusal to Sony, the BCCI has decided to go through the tender process to award the IPL media rights, as it is under constant scanner by the apex court to ensure transparency in the process. In fact, one of the key recommendations of the Lodha committee, which was formed by the Supreme Court to clean up the BCCI, was to award future commercial rights through free and fair tendering process. The BCCI has invited Sony to participate in the bidding. “We believe in transparency. We have made it very clear that anyone who wants to participate will have to go through the bidding process. Sony has been invited to participate in the bidding process.
Anurag Thakur said praised the role Sony had played in making the IPL the world’s most popular cricket league. He also reiterated that the board did not want any litigation and would not deal with anyone who was in litigation with the BCCI. The last provision, regarding litigation, puts SPNI on the spot if it chooses to move the court.
An interesting part of the tender process is that the BCCI is not obligated to accept the highest financial bid and it retains the discretion to amend the process any time. Bidders are also required to submit signed media rights agreement with the bid.
BCCI chief executive officer Rahul Johri said. Deloitte will handle the financial due diligence and Amarchand Mangaldas the legal due diligence.
BCCI offers 3 rights packages:
1) Indian subcontinent TV rights;
2) Indian subcontinent digital rights; and 3) rest of the world TV and digital rights.
The Indian subcontinent TV and digital rights are by far the most valuable rights. Of these, only the Indian subcontinent TV rights are for a period of 10 years (2018–27).
while the remaining two rights packages are for five years (2018–22) each.
Bidders can bid for any combination of the rights package.
The BCCI has said that television broadcasters in non-news category are eligible to bid for Indian subcontinent TV rights. For the Indian subcontinent digital rights, broadcasters, internet operators and mobile operators are eligible to bid. The ROW media rights are open to bidding for broadcasters, internet operators as well as media agencies. The bidders should not be under litigation with the BCCI.
Dates for the tender process The ITT is available for purchase from 19 September and the last day for the purchase of ITT is 18 October. The last day for seeking clarifications is 4 October. The last day for submission of bid is 25 October, 9.30 am, at the venue specified in the ITT. Interested parties will have to pay tender fee to receive ITT.
The bids will have to be submitted in two envelopes, broadly Envelopes A and B. Envelope A will have the eligibility bid while Envelope B should have financial bid and signed media rights agreement.
According to the BCCI, only Envelopes B of compliant bids will be opened while non-compliant bids will be returned or destroyed.
Read more at: Stage set for Sony vs Star as BCCI opens tender process to sell IPL telecast rights | TelevisionPost.com | TelevisionPost.com
Posted using Entertainment Forum app
