Uncertainty is surrounding the bidding process for the media rights to the Indian Premier League in the wake of Friday’s latest order from the Supreme Court over matters relating to the wide-ranging overhaul of the governance of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The court order has directed the BCCI to direct all tenders and contracts through the Lodha Committee, the body that is overseeing the reform process that had been sparked by the spot-fixing scandal that occurred during the 2013 edition of the IPL.
The BCCI last week hailed an “overwhelming response” to its latest rights tender for the Twenty20 competition after confirming that 18 media and technology entities had purchased the invitation to tender document.
The tender was launched on September 19, with the BCCI accepting bids for the rights through to tomorrow (Tuesday). The packages on offer include television rights in the Indian subcontinent for 10 years, from 2018 to 2027, digital rights in the Indian subcontinent over five years, from 2018 to 2022, and television and digital rights for the same five-year period for the rest of the world.
The ESPNcricinfo website said the BCCI needs to wait for approval from the Lodha Committee before proceeding with the bidding process as it will be in danger of being in contempt of court if it fails to do so.
ESPNcricinfo said the BCCI is already prepared for the bidding process to be postponed. A senior board official said that even if the Lodha Committee were to give the process the go-ahead, the BCCI would be faced with “logistical” issues to conduct the bidding on Tuesday.
The official added: “If they say go ahead, we will do that on October 25. But it would be a very big challenge for the board. So we will just change the date by one or two days.”
Indian newspaper the Economic Times said today (Monday) that the BCCI had sent a letter to the Lodha Committee on Friday night, seeking clarifications regarding the rights tender. The board reportedly sent two more letters over the weekend, which are said to have not elicited any response from the committee so far.
The 18 companies that picked up the ITT are: Star India, Amazon, Followon Interactive Media, Taj TV, Sony Pictures Networks, Times Internet, SuperSport International, Reliance Jio Digital Services, Gulf DTH, GroupM Media India, beIN, Econet Media, Sky UK, ESPN Digital Media (India), BTG Legal Services, BT, Twitter and Facebook.