New Delhi: The Indian Premier League digital telecast (mobile and internet) rights bids are expected to be lower than the earlier years' value. The bidding due on Tuesday will see a number of leading media houses fight for the right to telecast on digital platforms for the next four years.
The top contenders of the bidding war are likely to be Star India, Sony, Times Internet and Youtube. The rights were awarded to the Times Internet in 2011 for Rs.261.6 crore.
Though BCCI, governing body of IPL, is expecting to fetch more with the bidding this year, market trends are saying otherwise. One of the major reasons that are to cause the dip in the bid value is the exclusion of US and UK from the tender, while the Middle East is non-exclusive. The 2011 tender had included US, UK and Middle East. This is expected to lower the bid value by 50-60% of the total value.
The tender includes mobile rights, monetized by value-added service (VAS). But in recent years VAS has fallen significantly, causing a drop in the revenue. This might also cause the media companies to recalculate their bidding.
Another factor contributing to the drop of bids is rather subjective. Audience has been complaining of overdose of cricket recently. This year after the world cup, the enthusiasm surrounding the IPL might be lower than the earlier years. Terrible performance on Australia tour, India's lack of form, absence of star players like Sehwag, Yuvraj, Tendulkar and Dravid is also causing loss of interest in cricket.
