Broadcasting giant Star India completed its virtual monopoly over Indian cricket by bagging the media rights of the national team's home series as well as domestic cricket for the next five years by shelling out a staggering Rs 6,138.1 crore (USD 944 million approx).
After an intense bidding war spread over three days, Star pipped Sony and Reliance Jio for the Global Consolidated Rights (GCR) starting from April 2018 to March 2023. It was for the first time that BCCI staged an e-auction to sell the home media rights.
Star had also won the IPL rights for a record Rs 16,347 crore (USD 2.55 billion) last year. They also own the rights for all ICC tournaments (men's and women's 50-over World Cup, World T20).
The GCR comprise TV broadcast rights as well as digital rights for the Indian sub continent as well as the Rest of the World (RoW).
On the first day, the bidding ended at Rs 4,442 crore while yesterday, it breached the Rs 6,000 crore mark.
"The final consolidated bid was (Rs) 6138.1 crore, which translates to a per match figure of (Rs) 60.18 crore, over 102 matches," said BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary.
"The other relevant numbers are that we have gone up from 43.2 crore per match to this figure, which is climbing up by Rs 17 crore and if you compare with the IPL broadcast rights and the current, then the IPL figure per match, for 300 matches was Rs 54.4 crore and this figure is ahead of that. It was a learning experience.
"I would also like to express my gratitude to Sony Pictures, who helped us achieve this milestone and they had bid last (Rs) 6,118.59 crore," the acting secretary added.
The announcement of the winning bid was made at the BCCI headquarters in the presence of top office bearers and Star India chairman Uday Shankar.
Asked whether Star had paid a bit too much for the rights, Shankar said: "Like every great thing, the BCCI rights come a little expensive, but then good things have a price. Star and BCCI can transform the sporting experience of cricket fans altogether."
Further dissecting the astronomical amount, BCCI CEO Rahul Johri said that the board will be earning Rs 46 crore per match for the first year, Rs 47 crore per match for the second year, Rs 46.50 crore per match for the third year, Rs 77.40 crore for the fourth year and Rs 78.90 crore for the fifth year.
The current valuation is a lot higher than Star's erstwhile record bid of Rs 3,851 crore (USD 750 million then) back in 2012.
Committee of Administrators member Diana Edulji was also present on the occasion and chairman Vinod Rai was in regular touch with the BCCI top-brass from Singapore.
"We have done what we could, and now lets hope, cricket moves on, when CoA moves out as quickly as possible, the legacy we leave behind goes forward," said Edulji.