MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The legal dispute between Multi Screen Media (MSM, earlier Sony Entertainment) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
is learnt to be close to resolution, but a three-pronged race comprising MSM, an NDTV-led consortium and ESPN Star Sports for bagging the broadcast rights for the IPL in India is heading for a photo finish.
According to at least two persons familiar with the situation, MSM has once again emerged as the front-runner for securing the lucrative India rights and is set to sign on the dotted line with WSG Mauritius, the new global broadcast rights holder for the T20 tournament.
World Sports Group SouthAsia CEO Venu Nair declined to comment on this. “We want to license out the TV rights for India to a broadcaster for the entire nine-year period. This, we believe, will help in developing and promoting the league on a year-round basis,” he said. A final decision is expected in the next one or two days.
Last year, BCCI had sold the global multi-media rights to WSG for $918 million and an additional promotional spend of $108 million for a 10-year period. These included rights for TV, radio, internet and mobile. WSG had, in turn, sold the rights for India to Sony Entertainment for five years.
The fresh deal inked by WSG Mauritius with BCCI on March 15 is estimated to have been struck at $1.2-1.5 billion, increasing the valuation of the IPL property by about 40%. “After the earlier deal was terminated, the valuation of the broadcast rights was renegotiated, since last year IPL was an untested property.
BCCI asked WSG for a higher valuation, which WSG agreed to. So, WSG Mauritius, a WSG group entity, bought the global rights for nine years from BCCI at an almost 40% higher valuation,” said an official involved with the negotiations.
MSM had dragged BCCI to Bombay High Court last weekend, seeking injunction over the cricket board attempting to negotiate a fresh contract for IPL’s broadcast rights.
A person familiar with the situation said it’s unlikely that MSM would drop its legal case unless the two parties arrive at some kind of settlement. This person added that it is possible that MSM had offered a better deal to BCCI and WSG. But this could not be independently confirmed.
Meanwhile, it is also learnt that ESPN-Star has opened talks with WSG Mauritius for global broadcast rights, apart from India. In a new development, WSG will also be allowed to sell Direct-To-Home broadcast rights in India.
In addition to MSM and ESPN Star, the NDTV consortium is the third player in the fray. This consists of NDTV, Malaysian broadcaster Astro and PE fund Providence Capital. The final outcome remains in the balance according to a number of officials ET spoke to.
is learnt to be close to resolution, but a three-pronged race comprising MSM, an NDTV-led consortium and ESPN Star Sports for bagging the broadcast rights for the IPL in India is heading for a photo finish.
According to at least two persons familiar with the situation, MSM has once again emerged as the front-runner for securing the lucrative India rights and is set to sign on the dotted line with WSG Mauritius, the new global broadcast rights holder for the T20 tournament.
World Sports Group SouthAsia CEO Venu Nair declined to comment on this. “We want to license out the TV rights for India to a broadcaster for the entire nine-year period. This, we believe, will help in developing and promoting the league on a year-round basis,” he said. A final decision is expected in the next one or two days.
Last year, BCCI had sold the global multi-media rights to WSG for $918 million and an additional promotional spend of $108 million for a 10-year period. These included rights for TV, radio, internet and mobile. WSG had, in turn, sold the rights for India to Sony Entertainment for five years.
The fresh deal inked by WSG Mauritius with BCCI on March 15 is estimated to have been struck at $1.2-1.5 billion, increasing the valuation of the IPL property by about 40%. “After the earlier deal was terminated, the valuation of the broadcast rights was renegotiated, since last year IPL was an untested property.
BCCI asked WSG for a higher valuation, which WSG agreed to. So, WSG Mauritius, a WSG group entity, bought the global rights for nine years from BCCI at an almost 40% higher valuation,” said an official involved with the negotiations.
MSM had dragged BCCI to Bombay High Court last weekend, seeking injunction over the cricket board attempting to negotiate a fresh contract for IPL’s broadcast rights.
A person familiar with the situation said it’s unlikely that MSM would drop its legal case unless the two parties arrive at some kind of settlement. This person added that it is possible that MSM had offered a better deal to BCCI and WSG. But this could not be independently confirmed.
Meanwhile, it is also learnt that ESPN-Star has opened talks with WSG Mauritius for global broadcast rights, apart from India. In a new development, WSG will also be allowed to sell Direct-To-Home broadcast rights in India.
In addition to MSM and ESPN Star, the NDTV consortium is the third player in the fray. This consists of NDTV, Malaysian broadcaster Astro and PE fund Providence Capital. The final outcome remains in the balance according to a number of officials ET spoke to.
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