SLC’s media rights bids hinges on India tour
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Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) last week dispatched Invitation to Tender (ITT) documents to all potential bidders for the national team’s media rights for the three years starting April 1, 2020, but left the bid submission date open until India’s limited-over tour to Sri Lanka is finalised.
The Indian team is due to arrive in the island for six limited-over matches (3 ODIs and 3 T20Is) on June 21 this year. But the tour is unlikely to be played on schedule owing to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Negotiations are on with the Indian cricket board to shift the tour to a later date, SLC said. Tours by Indian cricketers are lucrative because of the huge following the game attracts in India.
The Sri Lankan board desperately wants the tour to go ahead to fill their coffers with revenue from media rights.
“Due to the COVID-19 crisis and the lockdowns and curfews currently being experienced in Sri Lanka as well as overseas, the offer submission date will be notified in due course,” SLC wrote to the bidders.
“SLC will keep the Bidders informed of the updated tour schedule and the Bid submission date and time by 15 May 2020.”
SLC is selling media rights for the next three years after their seven-year agreement with Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India Private (formerly Ten Sports) ended on March 31, 2020.
The new cricket cycle includes 12 international tours including an ODI tri-series involving Sri Lanka, Ireland and Australia which has been scheduled for January 2023.
Sri Lanka’s bilateral tour calendar includes one full series during the cycle with Australia, who are scheduled to arrive in the island in June 2022 to play 2 Tests, 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is.
The new cycle was to kick-off with South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka in May/June this year but the tour has been rescheduled for November 2021 due to the current global health crisis.
SLC awarded the production rights for the next three years to Innovative Product Group (IPG) headed by Dubai-based Indian Anil Mohan following a successful bid they made in February but was forced to retender their media rights (TV/Radio and Digital Broadcast rights) following unsatisfactory offers.
Unlike in previous years, SLC floated three separate tenders for TV and radio broadcast rights, TV production rights and digital broadcast rights spanning the next three years in view of its partnership with Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India Private (formerly Ten Sports) ending on March 31, this year. This is the first time SLC floated digital rights separately.
This decision seems to have cost the Board dearly. Apart from the lack of transparency, another concern of Sony Pictures, who pulled out from the process, is the separation of digital rights from TV/ Radio broadcasting rights.
The bifurcation of rights – TV/Radio and Digital Rights – resulted in SLC receiving below par offers with the highest bid for TV/Radio rights of US$ 16 million and digital rights fetching only US$ 6 million.