The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has issued a tender for the LA 2028 Olympics broadcast rights in India. With cricket set to return after 128 years, the IOC eyes an opportunity and an increase in revenue. Viacom18 pipped Sony Sports Network to bag the Paris Olympics broadcast rights for $31 million. Now, the IOC expects the bid to be in multiples. The last date for submitting the tender is August 13.
Cricket will return to the LA 28 Olympics on a small scale. The tournament will be comprised of six teams in each men’s and women’s categories, and will be played in T20 format. While there is no clarity over the qualification of teams, the IOC is expecting huge interest in the bidding process.
“The sport that the Indian population cherishes the most is cricket. I think we’re here in a place where this is a game-changer not just for India, but it’s also a game-changer for the Olympic movement,” said Anne-Sophie Voumard, Managing Director of Television & Marketing Services of the IOC, told CNBC-TV18.
Cricket TV rights in India
| Property | Broadcaster | Est valuation | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Premier League TV | JioStar (previously Disney-Star) | INR 23,575 Cr | 2023-27 |
| Indian Premier League Digital | JioStar (previously Viacom) | INR 20,500 Cr | 2023-27 |
| Women’s Premier League | JioStar (previously Viacom) | INR 951 Cr | 2023-27 |
| BCCI domestic | JioStar (previously Viacom) | INR 5,963 Cr | 2023-28 |
| ICC broadcast | JioStar (previously Disney-Star) | INR 22,000 Cr | 2024-27 |
| Asian cricket events | Sony Sports Network | INR 1,400 Cr | 2024-31 |
| England cricket | Sony Sports Network | Undisclosed | 2022-28 |
| Australia cricket | JioStar (previously Disney-Star) | INR 2,200 Cr | 2023-30 |
| South Africa cricket & SA20 | JioStar (previously Viacom) | INR 2,000 Cr | 2024-31 |
Cricket in Olympics
There has been an unprecedented rise in cricket broadcasting in India with media rights value jumping manyfold. The last Indian Premier League (IPL) was sold for Rs 48,390 crore. For the first time, IPL media rights were sold in separate baskets of TV and digital. BCCI’s domestic media rights went to Viacom18 for Rs 5963 crore while Disney-Star bagged the ICC media rights for around 24,000 crore.
As it has been established that cricket is the cash cow in the broadcast industry, the IOC wants to cash in. The return of cricket in the Olympics was strategic and coincided with IPL’s phenomenal success. However, unlike 2022, the broadcast industry in India has become narrower. After the merger between Disney-Star and Viacom18, and the fall of Zee, India now has a sort of duopoly, with Sony and FanCode being the only competitors.
Hence, Sony, which recently shared the India Tour of England digital rights with Star India, will compete for the LA 2028 Olympics media rights.
“Bringing cricket back into the Olympic sports program basically creates a new cricket competition. So whoever is going to be the winner of that bid will be bringing to the Indian fans, for the first time ever, cricket back into the games. So that’s our historical moment,” Voumard said.
With India formally submitting a bid to host the 2036 Olympics in Ahmedabad, the IOC eyes a windfall.
