ICC to sell next media rights for Indian market and men’s and women’s events separately

The ICC has gone to market with its media rights for the next eight-year cycle, having radically altered the way in which it has done so. In a reflection of the changing media landscape, the ICC will first go to market in India alone from next week; it will sell rights for men’s and women’s events separately; and it will also sell digital rights separately.

The ICC will release an Invitation To Tender (ITT) for the India market for all the events on June 20 and the sealed bids will be submitted on August 22. The ICC will then announce the successful bidders by early September 2022, before releasing the ITTs for additional markets.

Up to six packages will be up for grabs in the Indian market, with deals including TV-only, digital-only or a combination of both.

The prospective bidders can bid for 16 men’s events (over eight years) and six women’s events (over four years), amounting to 362 and 103 matches respectively. These figures include senior-level matches only; the men’s and women’s Under-19 World Cups (one-day and T20) will be part of the deal, but are in addition to these match figures. The ICC media release said, the “interested parties will be required to submit a bid for the first four years of men’s events. However, they also have the option of bidding for an eight-year partnership.”

In case any of the packages are sold for only four years, the ICC will open another window to sell the rights for the second four-year period.

There will be three packages available for the men’s events (including the Under-19 events):

There will be similar packages available for the women’s events (including the Under-19 events), except that the duration is four years for each of them:

“There has been significant growth in interest in women’s cricket over the last five years and we have made a long-term strategic commitment to accelerate that growth, and unbundling the rights for our women’s events will play a huge role in that,” ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice said as per the release. “We are looking for a broadcast partner who is excited by the role they will play in growing the women’s game and ensuring more fans than ever before can enjoy it.”

Star India had won the last ICC rights deal (2015-2023). While the ICC had not disclosed the value of the deal, ESPNcricinfo understands it was close to US$ 1.9 billion.