Sony Partners To Purchase $1B Rights Package To India Cricket

Sony, World Sports Group Pay Over $1B For TV Rights To Cricket League In India

Sony Entertainment Television has partnered with Singapore-based World Sports Group (WSG) to pay more than $1B for TV rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL), according to Patrick Frater of DAILY VARIETY, who calls the deal "the biggest in the history of cricket."  The companies agreed to pay $918M for 10-year broadcast rights and committed an additional $100M for promotion of the IPL, a new creation of the Indian Cricket Board, which features the "Twenty20 form of cricket, a fast-moving and exciting take on the game that is extending its popularity beyond the traditional fanbase." Sony and WSG were two of the four finalists for the rights, each of which had to pay a nonrefundable $100,000 deposit; ESPN-Star Sports and Indian broadcaster NDTV were reportedly the other finalists.  In a game "normally dominated by countries, states or counties, the IPL plays out more like a commercial league" in which large corporations bid to own teams featuring "top international players from different countries." Bids for the league's eight franchises will be announced on January 24, and "the minimum bid is reportedly" $50M (DAILY VARIETY, 1/15).