Viacom18 Bags Packages B And C As IPL Digital Rights Rake In More Than TV: Sources

The big headline from this IPL media rights auction was the emergence of digital as the big brother, as it trumped the amount that was paid for the TV rights.

It has been a big pay day for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the lucrative media rights for the Indian Premier League has raked in the expected billions for the cricket board. After the fate of the all important packages A (TV rights) and B (Digital rights) were decided on Monday, broadcasters slugged it out for package C, which has a select non-exclusive rights deal.

According to sources, Reliance's Viacom18, won the rights for package C with a Rs 3,273 crore winning bid. As a result of this, Viacom, who also won the rights for Package B with a pay out of Rs 20,500 crore (Rs 50 crore per match for 410 matches), ended up paying Rs 23,773 crore for the entire bouquet of digital rights.

This figure is slightly more than what Disney Star paid (Rs 23,575 crore) to retain their TV telecast rights, according to sources.

The big headline from this IPL media rights auction was the emergence of digital as the big brother, as it trumped the amount that was paid for the TV rights. The value of each IPL match based on these numbers currently stands at a little over Rs 115 crore.

In the end it was the BCCI that laughed its way to the bank, raking in a total sum of Rs 47,348 crore for the packages A, B and C.