Billionaires Jeff Bezos and Mukesh Ambani set for new clash over television and streaming rights to IPL in online auction
- Rights to broadcast matches on television and to stream them online will be sold separately for the first time
- Online auction to take place over course of two days, meaning minute-by-minute bids and counter bids in real-time
Jeff Bezos and Mukesh Ambani, billionaires who have been battling for years in India, are headed for a ferocious new clash over rights to the country’s cricket matches.
This week, the Indian Premier League unveiled guidelines to auction off media rights and they seem designed to raise bids – and tensions. For the first time, the rights to broadcast matches on television and to stream them online will be sold separately, opening the door to Amazon and its Prime video service.
Ambani’s Reliance Industries is also determined to win, according to people familiar with the matter, as the companies fight for e-commerce supremacy in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets.
What’s more, the cricket competition will take place live online over the course of two days, which means proxies for the two men will have to make minute-by-minute bids and counter bids in real-time.
Imagine a Sotheby’s-style auction with Bezos and Ambani, worth about $275 billion and $100 billion respectively, bidding for a prize that only one can ultimately possess.
“Winning the auction is about prestige and vanity, so Reliance, Amazon and others can be expected to flex their muscles,” said Aditi Shrivastava, co-founder and chief executive officer at digital entertainment start-up, Pocket Aces. “It’s a big deal and bidders will surely fight tooth and nail to win the rights.”
The event, which starts on June 12, could see bets of $7 billion or more, according to the people, who didn’t want to be quoted discussing sensitive information.