Facebook bids $840m for Indian cricket rights
New media players continue to wind up their interest in sports.
Facebook bid nearly $US600 million ($NZ840 million) for 2018-2022 rights to Indian Premier League cricket, the IPL revealed overnight on social media.
However, it wasn’t nearly enough.
The Murdoch-owned Star India trumped all-comers with a $US2.55 billion bid covering both broadcast and online rights.
That’s nearly double the cost of rights to the previous five-year contract period but the price was driven up by competition from traditional broadcasters more than new media.
Overall – despite their recent tough times and ongoing challenges – established players like New Zealand’s Sky TV can take a degree of comfort from the IPL auction.
Facebook might have deep pockets and big ambitions for video but it seems there’s a limit on how much value it ascribes to sports rights. And Amazon, Google and Twitter did not even feature in the auction.
Still, there’s no room for complacency. Amazon, which has already picked up limited NFL rights in the US and non-Grand Slam tennis in the UK, is reportedly in a push to open negotiations with Sanzar by April next year, so Sky could still have a fight on its hands over rugby.
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Facebook bids $840m for Indian cricket rights
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