Amazon and Reliance to duel over cricket broadcasting rights

Cricket broadcasting rights – Amazon’s rivalry with Reliance Industries, India’s largest oil-to-retail conglomerate, appears to be moving to the cricket field, where the two corporations will likely fight for telecast rights to the country’s most popular cricket tournament, which attracts hundreds of millions of people. 
 
According to sources familiar with the companies’ plans, Amazon.com Inc and Reliance Industries Ltd are expected to compete with Sony Group Corp and Walt Disney Co’s India units for exclusive five-year TV and digital broadcast rights to the two-month series of matches, which could cost a record 500 billion rupees ($6.7 billion). 
 
“With two-and-a-half billion fans, cricket is the second-largest sport in the world, and IPL is like its Super Bowl,” said Anton Rublievskyi, CEO of Parimatch, a betting firm that promoted at the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year. 
 
“You don’t exist unless you’re there.” 
 
The digital and television rights were purchased for 163.48 billion rupees by Disney-owned Star India, which is one of India’s biggest broadcasters alongside Sony and its planned acquisition Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. During the first half of the 2021 season, the league’s games attracted 350 million viewers.

Cricket broadcasting rights

The digital and television rights were purchased for 163.48 billion rupees by Disney-owned Star India, which is one of India’s biggest broadcasters alongside Sony and its planned acquisition Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. During the first half of the 2021 season, the league’s games attracted 350 million viewers. 
 
Traditional media businesses, on the other hand, are up against deep-pocketed rivals like Reliance, India’s largest retailer, and Amazon, two billionaire-led behemoths battling for a piece of the fast-growing e-commerce pie while developing their digital platforms. 
 
The assets of Future Group, a large Indian retailer, are already the subject of a contentious court battle between Amazon and Reliance. 
 
Reliance is also in talks with international investors to raise $1.6 billion for its Viacom18 joint venture. 
 
Winning this offer is essential to Reliance’s long-term plans for its Jio platform and digital expansion, according to a source familiar with the company’s intentions. 
 
“Everything that has happened at Viacom18 in the last few months has been leading up to this,” the insider added, citing the purchase of La Liga rights and the launch of a sports channel as examples.

Amazon and Reliance

An Amazon India official did not respond to a request for comment. 
 
Due to the lack of a TV platform, the corporation will either need to bring in a TV partner or will be limited to bidding on the digital piece. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) awarded the tender to a consolidated TV and digital bid from Star in 2017, which outbid any of the individual bids. 
 
Given the possibility for unprecedented payments by bidders, including a deep-pocketed digital-only operator like Amazon, industry sources expect the BCCI to be flexible. 
 
In an interview with Reuters, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said the board has reviewed numerous models and offers, but he declined to comment on specifics or the potential cash value of the bids. 
 
Disney India did not react to a request for comment among the media giants, but Disney CEO Bob Chapek said during a recent earnings teleconference that the firm was confident of meeting its subscriber targets in India even without IPL rights. 
 
Sony’s entertainment division in India said it will consider bids for broadcast and internet rights. 

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