The Board of Control for Cricket in India has apologised to bidders in the tender process for the next set of rights to the Indian Premier League after electing to postpone the scheduled auction for the Twenty20 competition.
With the bidding process having been scheduled to commence today (Tuesday), uncertainty had been caused 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 BCCI.
The court order 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 today. 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.
However, the BCCI needed to wait for approval from the Lodha Committee before proceeding with the bidding process as it stood to be in danger of being in contempt of court if it failed to do so. With this having failed to arrive, the BCCI issued a lengthy statement on Monday evening announcing the postponement of the process, citing “unforeseen” developments.
A BCCI official told Indian newspaper the Economic Times: “As per the Supreme Court order, we cannot continue with the scheduled auctions without the Lodha committee’s approval. What they want from us is not something that can be achieved in one day. Even the Supreme Court has given us time till December 3 to accept the (reform) recommendations.”
The BCCI added in a statement: “The BCCI requests all bidders to appreciate that the events as have occurred were unforeseen and something over which the BCCI has no control. The potential bidders would appreciate that in the past the BCCI has responded to all queries to potential bidders in a prompt fashion and has conducted the entire process in a fair, transparent and professional manner.
“BCCI offers its sincere apology to all potential bidders and stakeholders who have put in efforts to put together bids by expending considerable time and resources, and have travelled from all across the country and the world to take part in this event.”
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.