BCCI bilaterals may not earn as much money as compared to the IPL.

Now that the cricket media rights for two of the three major upcoming cricket events have been auctioned, it is time for the auction of India's bilateral series broadcasting rights. It remains to be seen whether bilaterals will receive the same value as the IPL or will they be lesser than that.

While experts believe that due to market constraints and a decreased number of players, bilateral media rights may see a significant decrease.

The cricket media rights market has shifted from a seller's to a buyer's market. The IPL's media rights auction last year saw a significant increase in pricing. The premium value of IPL media rights in previous years was based on the assumption that advertising would always be strong, but it has slowed.

All advertising channels, whether television or digital, are under pressure. New companies are cutting ad spending to focus on profitability because of the global decline in valuation.

Advertising, on the other hand, could take two to three quarters to get back on track. Even if it grows in the coming year, it will still face challenges in both TV and digital.

The macroenvironment has shifted following the IPL and ICC media rights auctions. Even though viewership was high during the IPL, monetization was difficult.

Some even believe that, in addition to unfavorable markets, the delay in conducting the auction for bilateral media rights will have a significant impact on the value.

The BCCI has been late for their bilateral media rights auction, and the players who bid for the IPL and ICC media rights have already exhausted their budgets and must now focus on recovering those investments.

The IPL is a T20 format, whereas the BCCI bilaterals include T20s in addition to Test matches and one-dayers, which are not performing well and may have an impact on the value of media rights.

For the IPL 2023–2027 cycle, BCCI aggressively earned Rs 48,390 crore for the IPL and ICC media rights. Disney Star also paid $3 billion to retain the ICC media rights for India, whose base price for a four-year cycle is $1.44 billion.

Television and OTT giants, such as Zee and Sony, which recently merged, and Disney, which is considering strategic options for its India business, are among those to watch.

The fewer players and the difficult monetization will have an impact on the value of bilateral media rights.

At the end of the day, it's still Indian cricket, and the value of media rights may be similar to last year's, with neither a decrease nor an increase

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