Fiscal prudence is critical for strategic management: NP Singh on IPL media rights bids

The e-auctions of the media rights for the 2023-27 period of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are over and the TV and Digital rights alone are said to fetch Rs 47,000 crore, as per sources. While Disney-Star has retained the TV broadcasting rights for the IPL for Rs 23,500 crore, Viacom18 has bagged the digital rights for Rs 20,500.

The hotly contested media rights saw leading broadcasting houses of India in the fray. Among them was Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), which incidentally was the holder of the first media rights for IPL when the tournament commenced in the year 2008. SPNI had won the IPL rights for 10 years for a winning bid of Rs 8,200 crore.

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On the conclusion of the e-auctions for the IPL media rights, NP Singh, MD & CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India, congratulated and thanked BCCI for “an extremely well-managed and transparent bidding process”. Continuing further, Singh congratulated the winners of the four IPL media rights packages.

He added, “The IPL began with SPN and has since developed into one of the world’s most popular sporting leagues in its 15-year history. We’ve seen the League grow and would have liked to see it on the Sony Network again. In this regard, we made a reasonable bid, considering all the expected returns. We had to factor in the market’s anticipated expansion and potential economic and other concerns over the next five years. Fiscal prudence, in my opinion, is critical for strategic management.”

Speaking on the sports fare lined on the Sony network, Singh said, “Sony Sports Network will broadcast over 1,800 hours of cricket this year. In addition to the marquee India tour of England, the team plays three T20Is and three ODIs in the country. This will happen between India’s games in Ireland and India’s games in Zimbabwe. In addition to this action-packed calendar of Indian men’s cricket, we have the women’s team touring England and an enviable bilateral men’s cricket calendar featuring England vs New Zealand, Australia vs South Africa, Sri Lanka vs Australia, England vs South Africa, Australia vs England, and more, as well as popular T20i tournaments like the Big Bash League, Pakistan Super League, Women’s Big Bash League and more.”