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Exactly 50 days before the new cycle begins, on Wednesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released its media-rights tender for the Indian team's bilateral matches against Australia in three one-day internationals (ODIs), which would serve as a warm-up for the World Cup.
The big reality check in cricket's commercial development is that, even as Test cricket struggles to maintain its commercial allure, bilateral white-ball matches have essentially devolved into ICC World Cup qualifiers. Broadcasters would take into account this and the high prices the Indian Premier League (IPL) now fetches before deciding to put bids and how aggressively to proceed.
The most recent bilateral rights cycle (2018–2023) was exceptionally successful for the BCCI, with valuations increasing by over 1.5 times to $6138 crore. Each bilateral match was valued at 60 crore at the time, which was 6 crore higher than the value of the IPL at the time.
Since that time, the IPL has far outpaced bilateral cricket in stock growth. One can see that the Indian board didn't establish the base price with much ambition, unlike the IPL bids from the previous year, when the bidding started at twice the previous value.
In the upcoming cycle (2023-28), around 100 matches across all forms are anticipated to be played, which at reserve pricing will increase the BCCI's wealth by 6000 crore. Will valuations increase, if not significantly advance as last time?
