Reliance-backed Viacom 18 bags IPL Women's media rights for ₹951 cr

Viacom 18, which is a joint venture between Mukesh Ambani's Network 18 and Paramount Global, bagged the IPL women's media rights for the next five years. With this, the company has committed ₹951 crore between 2023 and 2027. For each match of total 22 IPL matches every year, Viacom18 will pay ₹7.09 for the next five years. 

Jay Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India congratulated Viacom 18 after winning the bid. Thanking both BCCI and BCCI women, he tweeted, "Congratulations @viacom18 for winning the Women’s @IPL media rights. Thank you for your faith in @BCCI and @BCCIWomen Viacom has committed ₹951 crores which means per match value of ₹7.09 crores for the next 5 years (2023-27). This is massive for Women’s Cricket."

"After pay equity, today's bidding for media rights for Women's IPL marks another historic mandate. It's a big and decisive step for the empowerment of women's cricket in India, which will ensure participation of women from all ages. A new dawn indeed! #WIPL @ICC @BCCIWomen," he added. 

Apart from Viacom 18, Disney-Star, and Sony-Zee were also in the fray for media rights. With the IPL women media rights sale, the BCCI is eyeing to raise around ₹1,100 to ₹1,250 crore annually. 

Following the development, the share price of Network 18 surged as much as 2.19% to ₹65.35 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The share price of the company opened higher at ₹64 on Monday against its previous closing price of ₹63.95. The company’s shares hit an intra-day high of ₹65.80. Its market capitalisation stood at ₹6,841 with as many as 95,024 shares changing hands against the two-week average of 0.77 lakh. 

The development comes at a time when Reliance Group is aggressively looking to expand its portfolio across broadcasting and sports media. In June last year, the entertainment company acquired the non-exclusive rights to digitally stream 18 matches in every season of IPL in the Indian sub-continent for the seasons starting from 2023 to 2027. The BCCI raised a record ₹48,390 crore by auctioning media rights for 410 matches of the IPL for the period 2023-27, with digital rights exceeding TV rights for the first time. While DisneyStar retained the IPL TV rights for the Indian subcontinent for ₹23,575 crore, digital rights went to Viacom 18 for ₹23,758 crore.

Nita Ambani, director, Reliance Industries, had earlier said the company's mission is to take the "joyful experience of IPL to cricket fans wherever they are -- in every part of our country and around the world". 

In April last year, Reliance Industries and Viacom18 entered into a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems, a platform of James Murdoch's Lupa Systems and Uday Shankar, to set up one of the largest TV and digital streaming companies in India.