Low bids from Broadcasters has forced Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) to re-tender for the International media rights for the next five years, Cricket Age exclusively learns.
Bids for international media rights and a media production contract for Sri Lanka Cricket properties for the 2020-23 period were originally scheduled on Thursday (February 20).
However, As the interested broadcasters bid much lesser than SLC expectations and evaluation, it forced the board to go for the fresh tenders once again.
“What they offered, was much lesser than the evaluation committee recommended. There was no logic to seal the deals with those low offers. Thus, it was decided to go for the fresh tenders once again” a SLC insider told Cricket Age.
It has also learnt that the absence of two big broadcasters of Asia region – Sony and Star network – has also contributed in SLC decision for going for re-tender.
“It has appeared that both Sony and Star wanted the extension for the bidding. Both they are undoubtedly biggest broadcasters in the world and their absence affected SLC plans” the insider added further.
When Cricket Age inquired with Sony, it learnt that the bids for TV rights of three other cricket playing nations – South Africa, Bangladeh, West Indies – are also taking place at the same time. Obiously, it has made giants like Sony and Star reluctant to go big in bidding for one particular country.
After deciding to go for the fresh bid again, SLC top brass expects that this time around both Sony and Star will be able to take part in the process.
The SLC is understood to be selling two packages of media rights – one for television and radio and another for digital platforms. Both packages, and the production contract, cover the same content – national team cricket matches taking place in Sri Lanka. Both media rights packages cover all territories outside Sri Lanka.
The new rights cycle begins in April and its first major fixtures are the tours of Sri Lanka by South Africa, India and Bangladesh taking place between May and August. Sri Lanka hosts the West Indies and England this month and next in the last major fixtures covered by the current rights cycle.
It is noteworthy that Sri Lanka Cricket’s international media rights have historically been acquired by Indian broadcasters, with that market accounting for most of their value. Pay-television broadcaster Sony Pictures Networks is the current rights-holder, in an eight-year deal running 2012-13 to 2019-20.
Sony acquired the rights in the current cycle via its acquisition of sports pay-television business Ten Sports from Zee Entertainment Enterprises in 2017.
Sony has focused on overseas cricket board rights in recent years after bigger rival Star grabbed the main domestic properties – BCCI cricket and the Indian Premier League – as well as International Cricket Council rights in the current cycles.
Sony is the current rights-holder in India for Cricket Australia, the England and Wales Cricket Board, and Cricket South Africa.
