Acting on expected lines, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is reportedly making changes to the bidding process in the sale of media rights for the India market, following concerted pressure from broadcasters.
According to a report in The Times of India, the ICC will likely reveal bidding figures in the presence of participants at an event in Dubai on Friday, 26 August, besides outlining conditions that could lead to an e-auction.
The tender process could enter an e-auction in the second round if the top two bids are within 10 per cent of one another.
“Considering now they have to share if the difference between the winning bid and the second-highest bid is less than 10 per cent for Round Two to go ahead, they will now have to announce all the bid numbers on 26th itself in front of broadcasters,” a source told TOI.
The development comes after broadcasters Viacom18, Disney, Sony and Zee refused to attend ICC’s proposed mock auctions citing “opaqueness” of the tender process.
The TOI report also revealed the ‘benchmark price’ for the four as well as the eight-year cycles along with the multiplier that could help the ICC decide which cycle to go with.
According to the report, the benchmark price for the four-year cycle has been set at $1.44 billion, while for the eight-year cycle it has been calculated with the ‘2.8 multiplier formula’ — which amounts to $4 billion.
“The multiplier that will be used to determine whether IBC (the commercial arm of the ICC) will consider bids on a 4-year or 8-year basis will be 2.8. If the 8 year bid/combination bids meet or exceeds 2.8 times the highest 4 year bid/combination bid, IBC will be considering the 8 year bids,” Cricbuzz quotes a source as having said.
As per the timelines set by the ICC, interested broadcasters have to submit technical bids by Monday, 22 August followed by their final bids no later than 26 August.
