MUMBAI: And so it came to pass. After the grandstanding had run its course, the International Cricket Council had a clear winner on its hands Friday.
This after four competing broadcast networks submitted closed bids for the second most valuable media rights the game has to offer after the IPL, from what is the ICC’s biggest by far market – the Indian subcontinent.
As expected, Disney Star, Viacom18, Sony and Zee were the bidders. And just as expectedly, Amazon – a perennial suspect but usually a no show when push comes to shove in big ticket cricket rights bidding – failed to “show up”.
As per Cricbuzz, a second round of bidding (e-auction] will not happen. Which effectively means that the difference between the highest bid and the second highest bid is above the 10% threshhold that would have triggered an e-auction process.
The cricket website further reports that the official identity of the winning broadcaster, as well as the payout committed, is expected to be communicated after the ICC board meeting scheduled for Saturday (August 27) afternoon UAE time.
