BCCI's six-year deal with Star ends
The long home season draws to a close on a long-standing arrangement
The third and final Twenty20 International between India and Sri Lanka here yesterday was last of an era. Well sort of. The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) six-year broadcast deal with Star Sports has come to an end - practically, if not technically. Although Star will have to show a few domestic games, there are no more international fixtures before the current cycle formally ends on March 31. So what next? The world from Cricket Centre is that there will be an announcement next month for the next cycle. But before that the BCCI wants to settle a few tricky issues - about the prospective bidders, the status of the bidders, expected cost of the rights and the number of games.
The BCCI officials say the schedule for the next five years is close to being sorted. It could be about 100 games - roughly 90 matches in the proposed new four-year 2019-23 FTP and about 10 games in the 2018-19 season after which the new FTP kicks in. As for the bidders, the BCCI will be looking for some sort of declaration from Star, which has recently been merged with Disney.
Board insiders say when Sony had partnered with ESPN midway through its 10-year deal IPL deal, it had given a declaration over the new association. So the BCCI will soon be seeking clarity on the status of the merger and continued the Sony- ESPN partnership. There is also a talk that Sony-ESPN association will be one of the fallouts of the Fox-Disney merger but then that is a different matter.
It doesn't concern the BCCI. The next question is will the new deal command the current price of Rs 43 crore a game, or more? The BCCI seems to have done some planning. In the proposed new FTP, only 30 of the 90-odd games are Tests, the rest are one-dayers and T20Is. Even most of those Tests are against South Africa, England and Australia. So when the BCCI says it has more games and a fewer matchdays (to reduce the workload on the players), it is not without a reason.
The ODI and T20Is are more marketable than Tests. No rocket science here. Finally, will Star-Disney, having pocketed the IPL, go after the international rights, particularly when they are in the midst of a merger? That is not known. But what is known is that the Star strategy will not be at the direction of Rupert Murdoch, who has been holding the rights not just Indian cricket but also world cricket. It's the end of the Murdoch era. Well, sort of.
The third and final Twenty20 International between India and Sri Lanka here yesterday was last of an era. Well sort of. The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) six-year broadcast deal with Star Sports has come to an end - practically, if not technically. Although Star will have to show a few domestic games, there are no more international fixtures before the current cycle formally ends on March 31. So what next? The world from Cricket Centre is that there will be an announcement next month for the next cycle.
But before that the BCCI wants to settle a few tricky issues - about the prospective bidders, the status of the bidders, expected cost of the rights and the number of games.
The BCCI officials say the schedule for the next five years is close to being sorted. It could be about 100 games - roughly 90 matches in the proposed new four-year 2019-23 FTP and about 10 games in the 2018-19 season after which the new FTP kicks in. As for the bidders, the BCCI will be looking for some sort of declaration from Star, which has recently been merged with Disney.
Board insiders say when Sony had partnered with ESPN midway through its 10-year deal IPL deal, it had given a declaration over the new association. So the BCCI will soon be seeking clarity on the status of the merger and continued the Sony- ESPN partnership. There is also a talk that Sony-ESPN association will be one of the fallouts of the Fox-Disney merger but then that is a different matter.
It doesn't concern the BCCI. The next question is will the new deal command the current price of Rs 43 crore a game, or more? The BCCI seems to have done some planning. In the proposed new FTP, only 30 of the 90-odd games are Tests, the rest are one-dayers and T20Is. Even most of those Tests are against South Africa, England and Australia. So when the BCCI says it has more games and a fewer matchdays (to reduce the workload on the players), it is not without a reason.
The ODI and T20Is are more marketable than Tests. No rocket science here. Finally, will Star-Disney, having pocketed the IPL, go after the international rights, particularly when they are in the midst of a merger? That is not known. But what is known is that the Star strategy will not be at the direction of Rupert Murdoch, who has been holding the rights not just Indian cricket but also world cricket. It's the end of the Murdoch era. Well, sort of.
(Courtesy: Mumbai Mirror)
