8 pm matches are set to return from next year amid low viewership!

The Indian Board is set to return to the template when the evening games in the Indian T20 League begin at 8 pm and the afternoon games start at 4 pm. The board has apparently conveyed this message to all the potential broadcasters before the bidding starts for the 2023-2027 cycle.

“The board’s preferred start times for double-headers being 4 pm and 8 pm Indian Standard Time”, conveyed the board to all the interested parties.

On request of the Star Sports, the board decided to change the timing. Star wanted an extra 30 minutes in the Prime Time slot and thus the decision was made to start the match at 3:30 and 7:30 pm respectively. Star who paid a whopping INR 16,347 crores in the last cycle is once again in contention to win the bidding war this time.

It won’t be an easy task for sure. They will face a tough challenge from Viacom18, Zee, Sony, Amazon, Sky Sports of UK, Super Sport of South Africa and many other reputed companies. The bidding war will take place on June 12 and the board has fixed a combined base price of INR 32,890 crores for the four bouquets it has put up for sale.

The board has also announced that there will be less number of double headers from the next season. The viewership in the afternoon games are low and thus, the board has decided to come to this decision.