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Technology


BEZOS POISED TO CLASH WITH ASIA’S RICHEST MAN IN CRICKET AUCTION

 * Rights to broadcast, online streaming will be sold separately
 * Bidding between billionaires could surpass $7 billion


Jeff Bezos Photographer: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
By

Saritha Rai

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March 31, 2022, 9:22 AM GMT


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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 cricket 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.com Inc. and its Prime video
service. Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. 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 counterbids 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 startup, 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. At stake are the rights to show dozens of Indian Premier League
matches between 2023 and 2027, with separate auctions to decide the winners for
livestreaming and broadcasting in different regions. For comparison, Amazon is
paying about $1 billion a year for the rights to show the National Football
League online, but that’s for Thursday night games rather than the prime weekend
games.


Mukesh Ambani
Photographer: Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

The cricket auction is generating intense interest in India, where the sport is
wildly popular. Live streaming matches is an effective way of reaching the
country’s 1.4 billion people, who are increasingly watching sports on their
mobile devices. 



“If successful, you’ve captured an attentive audience for six straight weeks
every year for five years,” Shrivastava added. “It’s the biggest viewership
event of the year in India.”

Though Amazon and Reliance are the most ambitious, they join a horde of
competitors, including the Walt Disney Co.-owned Star India and its Disney
Hotstar streaming service. Also in the mix is a newly-created media behemoth
that combines Sony Pictures and India’s Zee Entertainment Enterprises, multiple
people said.




The auction promises to be an epic showdown between the Seattle-based retail
Goliath on one side and India’s most valuable company on the other. Winning
streaming rights would represent a prestigious get for Amazon or Reliance. They
are both eager to control a large share of digital opportunities in India.




The bidding adds more friction between the two companies, which are locked in a
power struggle over the assets of Future Group, a debt-laden Indian retail
chain. Neither side has budged an inch, leading to three dozen legal cases
between Amazon and Future Group -- with Reliance hovering in the background.



Ultimately, the prize is also about bragging rights in India’s e-commerce
market. Armed with inexpensive smartphones and availing themselves to one of the
world’s lowest data tariffs, nearly 800 million Indians have internet access to
watch Bollywood movies and live stream sports on their personal devices. The
Indian Premier League, or IPL, is one of the world’s most watched sporting
tournaments, comprising 10 teams and over 70 matches. 



Separating broadcast rights and digital streaming opens the door to new bidders.
Amazon, with its Prime video service, can face off in the e-auction against
Reliance’s Jio telecom subsidiary, which has nearly half a billion subscribers
in India. Unlike in the past, no consolidated bidding will be allowed. 

Representatives for Amazon and Reliance did not respond to emails for comment.
Disney Hotstar, which currently holds digital streaming rights for the matches,
would not confirm its participation in the auction. Others, including Meta
Platforms Inc.’s Facebook and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube, are still considering
whether to place bids, multiple people said. 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, the sport’s governing body, has
released detailed terms and conditions in its “Invitation to Tender.” According
to the board, the document will be available to purchase in the coming weeks to
those who pay a non-refundable fee of 2.5 million rupees plus taxes.

— With assistance by P R Sanjai, Anirban Nag, and Jeanette Rodrigues





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