Highlights
- First instance of ICC media rights being auctioned separately for men and women's cricket
- The auction mostly aims at the Indian market
- The global body is inviting bids for the ICC events cycle that begin in 2024
After the IPL media rights auction and all the frenzy surrounding it, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has now announced that it is open to accepting bids for the new media rights starting in 2024. ICC looks to release the first "Invitation To Tender" (ITT) for the next cycle of ICC events that begins in the year 2024. On June 20, Monday, the ICC announced that the bid is targeted at the Indian market only with six different packages available TV only, digital-only, or a combination of both.
Earlier this year, broadcast giant Viacom 18 sealed the IPL media rights deal, courtesy of a record INR 23,578 crore bid via an e-auction and it looks like ICC is all set to go the same way. The ICC has stated that it is open to going towards e-auctions for the sale of media rights if the bidders quote an identical sum of money in the opening round. The ICC media rights auction stands on a very different ground this time around as this is the first time when men’s and women’s rights will be sold separately, and the parties interested can bid for 16 Men’s events (over 8 years) and six Women’s events (over 4 years), totaling 362* and 103* matches respectively.
The broadcasters or channels in contention will have to submit a probable bid for the first four years of the men's event. On the other hand, the option for submitting bids for an eight-year partnership is also in place. Clearing the air around all the confusion surrounding the bids, the ICC on June 13, 2022, sent out a clarification that states that the bidding process for the 2024 cycle will begin in August.
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 a notable amount of rise in engagement in women’s cricket over the last five years and considering that we have curated a long-term strategic commitment to propel that growth and unbundling the rights for our women’s events will play a huge role in that. As of now, we are looking for a broadcast partner who gets excited by the role and will play a vital role in growing the women’s game and ensuring that more fans than ever before can enjoy it", said ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice
