IPL value jumps 3x to ₹48,000 crore – here's how much Mukesh Ambani, Disney and Times Internet are spending

• The IPL media rights auction has finally been wrapped up, tripling the value of the T20 league in just five years.
• After winning the digital streaming rights of the Indian Premier League, Mukesh Ambani’s Viacom18 has grabbed rights to an additional package on offer.
• The bundle includes the opening game, three playoffs, the grand final of every season and a few weekend double headers.
• First-time winner Times Internet grabbed media rights for MENA and US, while Viacom18 won the rights for Australia, South Africa and the UK.

Mukesh Ambani is going all-in on his bid to grab the 600 million viewers that the IPL attracts every year, shelling out a whopping ₹23,750 crore. In addition to the primary package for streaming the Indian Premier League, Ambani’s Viacom18 will also get Package C, which includes rights for 98 games for the next cycle of 2023-27 in the non-exclusive digital category.

Package C alone costs ₹3,250 crore – the per match cost is ₹33 crore, double the price that BCCI had asked for, which is ₹16 crore.

The winner of the television rights, Disney Star, on the other hand, will be paying ₹23,575 crore for all games.

Package	Rights	Price	Winner
A	TV rights – all matches	₹23,575 crore	Disney Star
B	Digital streaming rights – all matches	₹20,500 crore	Viacom18
C	Digital streaming rights – 18 matches	₹3,250 crore	Viacom18
D	Rest of the world	₹1,058 crore	Viacom18 and Times Internet

Why did Viacom18 buy two and a half bundles?

As per media reports, Ambani faced tough competition from Disney but Viacom18 had its eyes on the trophy.

If a different media conglomerate would have bagged package C, they would have been buying the rights to air 18 matches for free. Such a scenario would have hurt Viacom18 as it had already agreed to pay around ₹50 crore to stream a single game.

Package D, being the last one on offer, was grabbed by Times Internet in partnership with Viacom18, at a total price of ₹1,058 crore. While Viacom18 bagged the broadcasting and streaming rights for Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom, Times Internet grabbed rights for the US and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

India’s biggest sporting event is now valued at ₹48,400 crore – an increase of 3x when compared to the previous cycle, with the National Football League ahead by a small margin at $17 million.

Disclaimer: Times Internet is Business Insider's exclusive partner in India for content development, events, monetisation, and syndication.