BCCI contemplates e-auction of all rights
The idea behind the move comes soon after the media rights auction of the IPL
After taking a stand during the Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights tendering in August this year that an e-auction process for bidding would harm its interests from a revenue perspective, the Indian cricket board is finally warming up to the idea moving forward.
The BCCI could consider an e-auction process for Indian cricket media rights, the tender for which is expected to be floated soon, along with all other properties in the future. The idea behind the move comes soon after the media rights auction of the IPL, where the difference between the winning (consolidated) bid of Rs16,347 crore and the second highest (sum of all) bid of Rs 15,080 crore was merely 3%.
TOI has learned the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) was recently "updated on the discussions between the BCCI CEO (Rahul Johri) and an (e-auction) agency which was drawing up a model for assessing areas in which e-auction may be implemented by the BCCI".
The minutes of CoA's September 16 meeting have members - Vinod Rai and Diana Eduljee - taking note of the same.
TOI had first reported about the industry pursuing the idea of an e-auction with the BCCI in October last year when the cricket board was looking to auction the IPL media rights. Eventually, when the auction was held in August-September this year, BCCI took a stand in the apex court - countering a petition filed by Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy on the matter - and said that an e-auction would "devalue the property".
CoA head Rai had submitted an affidavit in the SC, stating the same.
However, in what is now clearly a change in the cricket board's mindset, the same CoA members have agreed to "discuss" the idea of an e-auction.
"The BCCI had submitted back then that going forward it would try and identify - through the IPL auction process - if an e-auction would work. It is working on the same submission. The Indian cricket media rights are going to be sold collectively, unlike the IPL media rights that made for a larger bouquet. But nothing's finalised yet. The idea is still being deliberated," sources in the know of things said.
There is a section of the cricket industry that says had BCCI agreed to stage an e-auction of IPL rights, the winning bid for the high-profile property could have well gone the Rs 17,000 mark. "The difference between the winning bid and the second highest bid was only 3%. That's negligible," sources said.
BCCI's state units are expected to take up the issue at an appropriate forum in the near future. The members strongly believe - with the benefit of hindsight - that e-auction of IPL could have only added to the board's revenues.
"E-auctions ensure greater process control, increased transparency, shorter lead times and generate an extremely competitive price discovery environment resulting in substantial gains for the seller. The e-auction process has also been followed by the government of India for all major auctions," Swamy told TOI.
After taking a stand during the Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights tendering in August this year that an e-auction process for bidding would harm its interests from a revenue perspective, the Indian cricket board is finally warming up to the idea moving forward.
The BCCI could consider an e-auction process for Indian cricket media rights, the tender for which is expected to be floated soon, along with all other properties in the future. The idea behind the move comes soon after the media rights auction of the IPL, where the difference between the winning (consolidated) bid of Rs16,347 crore and the second highest (sum of all) bid of Rs 15,080 crore was merely 3%.
TOI has learned the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) was recently "updated on the discussions between the BCCI CEO (Rahul Johri) and an (e-auction) agency which was drawing up a model for assessing areas in which e-auction may be implemented by the BCCI".
The minutes of CoA's September 16 meeting have members - Vinod Rai and Diana Eduljee - taking note of the same.
TOI had first reported about the industry pursuing the idea of an e-auction with the BCCI in October last year when the cricket board was looking to auction the IPL media rights. Eventually, when the auction was held in August-September this year, BCCI took a stand in the apex court - countering a petition filed by Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy on the matter - and said that an e-auction would "devalue the property".
CoA head Rai had submitted an affidavit in the SC, stating the same.
However, in what is now clearly a change in the cricket board's mindset, the same CoA members have agreed to "discuss" the idea of an e-auction.
"The BCCI had submitted back then that going forward it would try and identify - through the IPL auction process - if an e-auction would work. It is working on the same submission. The Indian cricket media rights are going to be sold collectively, unlike the IPL media rights that made for a larger bouquet. But nothing's finalised yet. The idea is still being deliberated," sources in the know of things said.
There is a section of the cricket industry that says had BCCI agreed to stage an e-auction of IPL rights, the winning bid for the high-profile property could have well gone the Rs 17,000 mark. "The difference between the winning bid and the second highest bid was only 3%. That's negligible," sources said.
BCCI's state units are expected to take up the issue at an appropriate forum in the near future. The members strongly believe - with the benefit of hindsight - that e-auction of IPL could have only added to the board's revenues.
"E-auctions ensure greater process control, increased transparency, shorter lead times and generate an extremely competitive price discovery environment resulting in substantial gains for the seller. The e-auction process has also been followed by the government of India for all major auctions," Swamy told TOI.
(Courtesy: The Times of India)
