Sources said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India has given the Indian Premier League's existing rights holder Sony Pictures Network India "a 10-day window to arrive at an understanding that a broadcast rights deal of such high value can't be held inside a closed room and needs to undergo a transparent bidding process," according to K. Shriniwas Rao of the TIMES OF INDIA. The 10-day window "is scheduled to end this week and it is learned that BCCI is ready to issue an 'Invitation To Tender' anytime later this month." SPNI maintained that there exists a "first rights clause" in its IPL contract, under which it had written to the BCCI to give it a "final written offer" to renegotiate the telecast deal. The BCCI told SPNI that no such "final written offer can be given" considering the Supreme Court mandate that "urges transparency in all financial deals." The BCCI "is firm that the only way forward is for interested parties to go through a tender process." A source said, "Gone are those days when Lalit Modi used to conduct deals the way he did. It is clear that no deals will now be conducted outside of an open bidding process." The BCCI intends to release exclusive details shortly. Broadcast and digital rights for the Indian sub-continent "are likely to be split and tendered separately." However, it "is the telecast rights for the Indian sub-continent that will continue to remain the big pie for potential buyers to dig in." There "is intense speculation that the BCCI could be expecting just the Indian telecast rights to be sold" for in excess of $2.5B for the next 10 years. If the overseas market valuations are to be considered -- solely based on expectations at the moment -- the board "could be potentially looking at an overall income" of close to $3B or more from the overall media rights of "cricket's fanciest league" (TIMES OF INDIA, 9/8).
