Uday Shankar flags rights pricing crisis

Why it matters

Uday Shankar used a blunt example this week to describe what he called a pricing problem in bilateral cricket. The JioStar vice-chair said broadcasters should not be expected to pay the same amount for an India series against Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka as they would for India against England or Australia, arguing that cricket administrators have pushed rights values beyond what the market can justify. India Today reported the remarks on May 26, citing Shankar’s warning that bilateral cricket is facing a “pricing crisis.” Variety, which published the wider interview a day earlier, said Shankar framed the issue as part of a broader reassessment inside JioStar over how much more the company can commit to cricket. (variety.com) The comments matter because JioStar is one of the biggest buyers in Indian sports media. Variety described the company as a platform serving more than 500 million viewers and spending about $3.9 billion a year on content, much of it built around cricket rights. In that interview, Shankar said cricket boards risk “pricing themselves out” of India, which he described as the sport’s main funding market. ### Why did Shankar single out India-Afghanistan and India-Australia? Shankar’s comparison was meant to show that fixture value is uneven. In the interview cited by India Today and Variety, he said there was no commercial logic in asking a broadcaster to assign the same value to India-Afghanistan, India-Bangladesh or India-Sri Lanka as to India-England or India-Australia. (indiatoday.in) His argument was that audience demand, advertiser interest and the competitive strength of the opposition are not the same across the schedule. India Today said Shankar linked that mismatch to audience burnout and weaker bidding competition. (variety.com) Variety reported that he also criticized the Future Tours Program, cricket’s global scheduling framework, saying the sport had not adapted its inventory design to current media economics. ### What is the “pricing crisis” he is talking about? The crisis, in Shankar’s telling, is not that cricket has lost value altogether. It is that rights owners are still trying to sell large blocks of bilateral inventory as though each match carries similar demand. (indiatoday.in) That approach worked when the buyer field was deeper and bidding contests were more aggressive, but Variety reported that Shankar believes that universe has narrowed. The pricing backdrop is also visible in past deals. Variety noted that the 2022 Indian Premier League rights auction reached $6.2 billion, or about $15 million per match, and said that valuation was second only to the NFL on a per-match basis. (indiatoday.in) Shankar’s latest remarks suggest he does not think that kind of benchmark can simply be extended across all cricket properties and all bilateral contests. ### What does this mean for how rights could be sold? The most immediate implication is packaging. If premium India series draw materially higher audiences than lower-profile tours, boards and rights sellers may face pressure to split inventory more carefully rather than bundling all bilateral fixtures at a uniform implied rate. (variety.com) India Today said Shankar’s critique was aimed at the assumption that every India match can be monetized in the same way. That does not amount to a withdrawal from cricket. Variety reported that Shankar said he was issuing a warning, not predicting a walkout, and that “sensible people” remain in cricket administration. (variety.com) But his formulation puts future rights negotiations on a more explicit commercial footing: premium fixtures at premium prices, and weaker inventory valued lower. ### Where does the story go next? The next test will come in upcoming bilateral and tournament rights discussions involving Indian broadcasters and cricket boards. Shankar’s remarks were published by Variety on May 25 and picked up by India Today on May 26, placing the issue in front of the same administrators and media buyers who shape future cycles. (indiatoday.in) Any change in packaging, reserve pricing or series-by-series valuation is likely to show up first in those negotiations. (variety.com)

Key numbers

• On May 26, JioStar vice-chair Uday Shankar said bilateral cricket rights face a pricing crisis as broadcasters resist treating every India series equally.
• Variety described the company as a platform serving more than 500 million viewers and spending about $3.9 billion a year on content, much of it built around cricket rights.
• Variety noted that the 2022 Indian Premier League rights auction reached $6.2 billion, or about $15 million per match, and said that valuation was second only to the NFL on a per-match basis.
• Shankar’s remarks were published by Variety on May 25 and picked up by India Today on May 26, placing the issue in front of the same administrators and media buyers who shape future cycles.

What happens next

• What does this mean for how rights could be sold?
• If premium India series draw materially higher audiences than lower-profile tours, boards and rights sellers may face pressure to split inventory more carefully rather than bundling all bilateral fixtures at a uniform implied rate.
• The next test will come in upcoming bilateral and tournament rights discussions involving Indian broadcasters and cricket boards.

Sources

• variety.com
• indiatoday.in

Quick answers