The media-rights auction is soon going to take place and as the event approaches to begin BCCI witnessed fewer players in play to compete against each other.
Among the top three players for the linear rights are the – Viacom 18, Sony, and Disney. Viacom 18 becomes a new name among these three players who pit themselves as the prime clients for linear rights.
BCCI expected the majority of big players in the market – Google, Amazon, and likely Facebook but none of them has even informed the BCCI whether they are interested to be a part of the auction for media rights.
BCCI feels disappointed after understanding that the previous IPL season has not been a profitable show to keep growing and might take some considerable changes to bring back the attention of the cricket fans.
While Amazon feels disinterested to bid on IPL, Facebook too keeps IPL out of its plans this year. Google might be a possibility who can enter the bidding process.
“With the kind of participation we have got, we are hoping for a good auction. The idea behind having an e-auction is to have a free, fair, transparent, and all-inclusive auction so that all levels of players get a chance. The interactions we have had with all the players are encouraging, they are all on board and they are happy with the system that has been put in place. With the kind of interest they have shown, hopefully, we will have a good show,” said Arun Dhumal (BCCI Treasurer) to Cricbuzz officials.