Disney Star wins TV rights while Viacom wins Digital rights for Indian T20 League

After loads and loads of drama, it can be finally concluded that Disney Star has retained their rights for Television broadcast of Indian T20 League. Even in the time of joy, the team will be upset as they lose to Viacom for the digital rights as the Reliance based company has acquired the right for whooping Rs. 20,500 crores. Meanwhile, Disney Star has retained the TV rights for Rs. 23,575 crores.

A total of around Rs. 44,000 crore is spent to acquire the rights of Indian T20 League for the next five years. It is expected that the League will host about 410 matches in the cycle 2023-2027 and as things stand, the Indian Board will earn 107.5 crore from every single match.

That’s massive to say the least. Even after witnessing such handsome figures, fans across India are pretty disappointed with Sony not coming into the picture. Sony previously had the right to broadcast Indian T20 League in the Indian Sub-continent but lost to Star after the first ten years contract came up. Fans wanted Sony to win it as they wanted to relive the golden period of the league. Nevertheless, with new players in the form of Viacom 18, fans are pretty much hopeful for a new direction in the broadcasting industry.

As thing stands, Package C has helped the total to cross Rs. 46,000 crores and experts believe that it may very well touch the Rs. 50,000 crores bar. However, an American media expert who’s tracking the development has expressed his concern for the consumers. “Splitting the rights clearly helped the BCCI maximise value. However, the trend around the world is for one broadcaster to control all rights to give the consumer the most flexibility and user experience. It's ultimately not good for the consumer which has to take on two subscriptions to maximise utility”.