{"id":1819,"date":"2026-08-31T08:38:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T08:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/08\/31\/bcci-ipl-media-rights-plan-b\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T08:38:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T08:38:03","slug":"bcci-ipl-media-rights-plan-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/08\/31\/bcci-ipl-media-rights-plan-b\/","title":{"rendered":"BCCI Faces Scrutiny Over IPL Media\u2011Rights Strategy Ahead of New Tender"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is under growing pressure as the deadline for the next Indian Premier League (IPL) media\u2011rights tender approaches. Roughly six months remain before the final IPL edition of the 2023\u201127 rights cycle commences, and key stakeholders say the absence of a credible competitor to JioStar threatens an accurate valuation of the league\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n<h2>Stakeholder Concerns Over a One\u2011Bid Market<\/h2>\n<p>Uday Shankar, a media entrepreneur who serves as vice\u2011chairman of JioStar, voiced the industry\u2019s unease at the recent ET World Leaders Forum. He recalled a time a decade ago when \u201cfour or more companies genuinely fighting for properties\u201d competed for major sports rights. Today, Shankar argued, \u201cit feels as if we are the only ones standing. And that\u2019s not healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Shankar, the cost of acquiring IPL rights has risen dramatically, yet the ability of broadcasters and platforms to monetise those rights has not kept pace. He warned that while the value of sports content is \u201cenormous,\u201d a sustainable ecosystem requires the rights holder, broadcaster, and platform to work together.<\/p>\n<p>The concern is that without a competitive bidding process, the market will lack the tension that has historically driven IPL media\u2011rights values upward for a decade. Industry observers fear that a single\u2011bid scenario could lead to an undervalued deal, limiting revenue that could otherwise support the sport\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n<h2>Potential New Entrants From the Global Streaming Landscape<\/h2>\n<p>Across the western media environment, platforms such as YouTube and Netflix have been expanding their involvement in live sport. YouTube, for instance, has shifted toward treating sport as a cornerstone of a broader pay\u2011TV and subscription ecosystem. Its seven\u2011year exclusive U.S. distribution deal for NFL Sunday Ticket\u2014reported at $2\u202fbillion per season\u2014serves both as a value\u2011add for YouTube TV subscribers and as a standalone product sold through YouTube channels.<\/p>\n<p>While average revenue per user in Western markets differs markedly from that in the Indian subcontinent, the IPL remains the only property in the region that could attract a player of YouTube\u2019s scale. Netflix co\u2011CEO Ted\u202fSarandos recently told The Economic Times that the streaming giant is interested in live sport, including cricket, but does not intend to become a \u201cconventional full\u2011season sports broadcaster.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shankar noted that the IPL\u2019s storytelling potential aligns well with Netflix\u2019s content strategy. The league reaches a \u201cbillion\u2011plus domestic audience,\u201d a widespread diaspora, and markets where cricket functions as a form of soft power. However, he stressed that \u201cthe economics have to make sense,\u201d implying that any new entrant would need a clear financial case before committing.<\/p>\n<h2>BCCI\u2019s Need for a Robust Marketing Strategy<\/h2>\n<p>JioStar is widely expected to submit a strong bid, leveraging its large subscription base that is heavily tied to cricket consumption. What remains puzzling, according to industry commentary, is the BCCI\u2019s difficulty in drawing additional participants to the table.<\/p>\n<p>Experts argue that the federation must adopt a genuine marketing approach that showcases the IPL to a \u201cdozens of media, technology and streaming platforms worldwide.\u201d Without such outreach, the board risks relying solely on JioStar\u2014its de\u2011facto Plan\u202fA\u2014while leaving the question of a viable Plan\u202fB or Plan\u202fC unanswered.<\/p>\n<p>The IPL is described as India\u2019s most prized prime\u2011time asset. Assuming that a media player operating several time zones away can fully grasp the Indian story without direct input from local rights\u2011holders is, at best, optimistic. The onus therefore lies with the BCCI to articulate the league\u2019s value proposition in a way that resonates with both domestic and international bidders.<\/p>\n<p>As the tender deadline draws near, the cricketing world will watch closely to see whether the board can broaden the competitive field or whether the IPL\u2019s next media\u2011rights cycle will proceed with a single dominant bidder, potentially reshaping the financial dynamics that have underpinned the league\u2019s success for the past ten years.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With six months to the start of the final IPL edition of the 2023\u201127 cycle, the board\u2019s limited bidder pool and lack of a clear Plan\u202fB are raising concerns across cricket\u2019s commercial ecosystem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[273,272,1780,1779,1781],"class_list":["post-1819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bcci","tag-ipl","tag-jiostar","tag-media-rights","tag-streaming-platforms","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}