According to sportbusiness.com’s Imran Yusuf, there is interest, but none of the bids have ticked all the right boxes so far.
Cricket South Africa is understood to have received no compliant bids for its broadcast rights in the Indian subcontinent, following the 12 October bid deadline for rights covering the 2024-25 to 2030-31 period.
Industry sources told SportBusiness that the two most established Indian sports broadcasters, media groups Disney Star and Sony Pictures Networks, did not lodge bids for CSA’s properties, which include its home bilateral series and SA20, the new T20 competition due to start in January.
Some sources indicated that rival media group Viacom18 is now the front-runner, having made a bid for the rights, though further negotiations would be required due to a lack of compliance in documentation.
Regarding Star and Sony, it is thought the narrow timeframe combined with the strong financial expectations – particularly for SA20 – were hindrances for the broadcasters.
However, all the major Indian sports broadcasters are understood to be open to further discussions regarding the rights, leaving the window open to either a new sales process being initiated or a deal being struck after further direct talks.
The rights on sale cover the Indian subcontinent for seven years. In its request for proposals issued on 23 September, CSA sought at least $7m (R127m) per India match over the new cycle. The RFP stated that India would play 21 matches in South Africa over the period, spread over tours in 2027-28 and 2030-31. A $7m-per-match deal would yield a total of $147m (R2.67bn).
HAVE YOU ALSO READ?: Local T20 tournament critical to future of SA cricket
CSA also requested at least a further $21m (R381m) to cover its non-India matches at home, meaning it sought a fee of close to $170m (R3.08bn) over the seven years for its South Africa national team home games.
The RFP also included rights to SA20, as previously reported by SportBusiness.
It is understood that the reserve price for the T20 tournament started at $8m (R145m) per year, but with an incremental rise in fees that would total around $100m (R1.81bn) for rights to the competition over ten years, 2023-32. This is on the basis of SA20, a six-team competition with franchises owned by Indian investors, comprising 33 matches per year.
Therefore the overall minimum fee sought by CSA for all its rights was around $270m (R4.9bn).
The RFP, which was issued by the IMG agency, CSA’s global media rights adviser for close to three decades, stated that only consolidated bids would be accepted, though broadcasters were asked to demarcate their bids for India matches, non-India matches, and SA20.
Some sources, however, said that broadcasters had been informed that placing bids below the reserve price would not lead to automatic disqualification.
Star currently holds CSA rights across the Indian subcontinent, in a deal that covers all home matches of the South Africa international men’s and women’s teams from 2020-21 to 2023-24. Star edged out Sony to secure CSA rights for the current cycle.
Africa Cricket Development (ACD), a new entity which owns SA20, initially held exploratory conversations with Indian broadcasters from late-August onwards regarding a direct sale of standalone SA20 rights.
However, Indian broadcasters are thought to have been uninterested in acquiring the rights at the level offered. In addition, some sources say that broadcasters were keener on acquiring SA20 rights together with CSA bilateral rights.
These rights had also gone on the market earlier this month when IMG issued an RFP for CSA rights in the Indian subcontinent for seven years, covering 2024-25 to 2030-31. Once it became clear that standalone SA20 rights would not be sold, IMG withdrew its RFP on 22 September. The agency issued a revised RFP on 23 September – this time incorporating SA20 rights along with the CSA rights – and with a bid deadline of 12 October.
CSA is the majority shareholder of ACD. Other partners with an equity stake include pay-television broadcaster SuperSport, which will hold exclusive domestic media rights to the competition, and Sundar Raman, former Chief Operating Officer of the Indian Premier League.
