BCCI set to rake in the money

The Indian board is expected to add about Rs1500crore (approx US$326million) to its coffers by auctioning out the rights for broadcast of matches in India for the next three years. Apart from terrestrial and satellite broadcast, bids have also been invited for radio, mobile and satellite broadcast, as well as for in-stadia advertising.

According to a report in Business Standard, the satellite rights could fetch upto Rs700crore, while Doordarshan, the national broadcaster, is likely to pay around Rs300crore for the terrestrial rights. In-stadia advertising could cost around Rs225crore, while radio and internet broadcasting could bring in a further Rs200crore.

Prasar Bharati, the successful bidder last time, paid Rs230crore for the television rights, but Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI president, has already stated that he expected the figure to increase almost four-fold this time around.

Meanwhile, the Indian government is already considering passing legislation to ensure that Doordarshan gets the terrestrial rights for all these matches at non-competitive rates. Doordarshan is also planning to make a competitive bid to gain the satellite rights for the games, in which it will be competing directly with ESPN-Star Sports, Ten Sports and Sony TV.

The next season in India promises to be action-packed, with Australia arriving here for a four-Test series, followed by a two-Test series against South Africa. In 2005, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are slated to tour India.