Online retailer Amazon has pulled out of the bidding race for the Indian Premier League media rights for 2023-2027 cycle, sources told NDTV on Friday. Amazon’s pull out means the likes of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance, Disney and Sony Group among others are in the box seat to win the rights to broadcast the cash-rich league.

Star India had edged out Sony Pictures to secure the Indian Premier League‘s media rights for the 2017-2022 cycle with a bid of Rs 16,347.50 crore in September 2017. With this deal, the cost of an IPL match had become around Rs 55 crore.

In 2008, Sony Pictures Network won the IPL media rights for a period of 10 years with a bid of Rs 8200 crore. The global digital rights of IPL for a period of three years was awarded to Novi Digital in 2015 for 302.2 crore.

The tournament was expanded from eight teams to ten teams this year with Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants being included from the 2022 season. Gujarat Titans went on to win the tournament in its maiden season last month.

The growth in IPL’s brand value was visible from the price that the two new franchises fetched last year.

The RPSG Group, an Indian conglomerate, won the bid for the Lucknow franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The winning bid was of Rs 7,090 crore, the BCCI had revealed in a press release.

Promoted

The other franchise, based out of Ahmedabad, was bought by CVC Capital Partners, a private equity and investment advisory firm, for Rs 5,625 crore.

(With agency inputs)