Indian cricket: Viacom18 wins BCCI’s digital and media rights for the next five years

US-Indian joint venture Viacom18 was awarded on Thursday the right to broadcast all Indian international cricket matches at home through to 2029 in a $721 million deal, beating rival bidders Disney and Sony.

Media rights are a huge earner for the Board of Control for Cricket in India, one of the richest governing bodies in global sport owing to the game’s immense and fanatical local fanbase.

“Our underlying goal remains to strike a harmonious equilibrium between cricket and commercial interests,” board chief Jay Shah said in a statement announcing the deal.

“It’s the legacy we leave behind and the positive impact we create in our country’s cricketing ecosystem that truly matters.”

Congratulations @viacom18 ???? for winning the @BCCI Media Rights for both linear and digital for the next 5 years. India Cricket will continue to grow in both spaces as after @IPL, and @wplt20, we extend the partnership @BCCI Media Rights as well. Together we will continue to…— Jay Shah (@JayShah) August 31, 2023

India plays 88 international matches over the rights period, translating to roughly $8.2 million per game under the Viacom18 deal.

ESPNCricinfo reported that the agreement priced the average match nearly 13 percent higher than the $944 million rights deal for 2018-23 signed by Star, Disney’s local subsidiary.

Star had held the rights...

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