Tech, ExplainedGaming, streaming and media
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Sports media rights

Cricket sets the price of everything else.

HOW IT WORKSThe owner of theevent offers therights for a fixednumber of seasonsBroadcasters andstreaming services bidfor each packageThe winner paysa fixed sumfor each seasonThe live match drawsthe largest audienceat one momentAds, subscriptions andcarriage fees earn therights fee backLive sport is watched as it happens, by more people at once than anything else, so its rights fetchthe highest prices.HOW IT WORKSThe owner ofthe eventoffers therights for afixed numberof seasonsBroadcastersand streamingservicesbid foreach packageThe winnerpays a fixedsum foreach seasonThe livematch drawsthe largestaudience atone momentAds,subscriptionsand carriagefees earnthe rightsfee backLive sport is watched as it happens, by more people at once than anything else, so its rights fetchthe highest prices.HOW IT WORKSThe owner of the event offers the rightsfor a fixed number of seasons↓Broadcasters and streaming services bidfor each package↓The winner pays a fixedsum for each season↓The live match draws the largest audienceat one moment↓Ads, subscriptions and carriage fees earnthe rights fee backLive sport is watched as it happens, bymore people at once than anything else,so its rights fetch the highest prices.
The owner of a sports event sells the rights for a fixed number of seasons, and the winning broadcaster or streaming service earns the fee back from ads, subscriptions and carriage fees during the live match.
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Sports media rights are the licences that allow a broadcaster or a streaming service to show a sports event, and in India the most valuable of them are the rights to live cricket. Live sport draws the largest audiences that watch anything at the same moment. So the price of these rights sets the price of much else: the ads on TV, the streaming subscriptions and, in countries where betting is legal, the betting odds.

Here is how it works in general. The body that owns the event, such as a cricket board or a football league, offers the rights for a fixed number of seasons. The rights are often split into packages, for example television and digital, or India and the rest of the world. Broadcasters and streaming services bid for each package, and the highest bidder pays a fixed sum for each season or each match. The winner then has to earn that money back. It sells ad slots during the match, sells subscriptions to its streaming app and charges cable and DTH operators a fee to carry its sports channels. Live sport fetches the highest prices because people watch it as it happens. They cannot skip ahead, and millions of them see the same ad in the same minute.

Take, for example, a television network that shows a big match. The ten-second ad slots between overs are its most expensive of the year, and an instant replay system keeps viewers watching through every wicket.

Consider a streaming service that has bought the digital rights to a tournament. Tens of millions of viewers may join in the last over of a final, so the service must handle high concurrency or lose the audience it paid for.

Say a bookmaker in Britain, where betting on sport is legal, takes bets on the same match. Its in-play odds change after every ball, using live sports data bought from companies that collect it at the ground.

How are sports media rights different from the rights to a film or a series? A film can be watched at any time, and it keeps most of its value for years. A match loses most of its value the moment it ends, because few people watch a recording once they know the result. So sports rights are about the live moment, and the buyer must reach the whole audience at once.

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