Amazon out of the IPL Media Rights race?

According to media reports Amazon has not arrived at the technical bid valuation for Indian Premier League media rights taking place on June 10. This could indicate that the international video streaming platform is no longer in the race for the digital media rights of IPL 2023-2027.

It was expected that Amazon Prime Video will be keen on grabbing the digital media rights (Category B) and non-exclusive rights for 18 matches alone. The base price for digital media rights was set at Rs 12,210 crore for the period of five years. As per analysts by Elara Capital, the final price for the dgital rights only would have been around Rs 21,9700 crore for five years.

Amazon's decision to stay out of the race is bound to prove beneficial for broadcaster-led OTT video streaming platforms that are vying for the cosolidated TV+digital media rights. With Amazon's unexpected pull out, one entity that could have driven up the bids is out of the equation.

Viacom 18, Disney Star, Sony Pictures Networks India, Zee Entertainment India Limited, Times Internet, Supersport and FunAsia have all shown up.

The e-auction will take place on June 12.