SBU Ep18: RISE Worldwide facilitate La Liga deal with Viacom18 and Impressive viewership numbers for UEFA Euro 2020 in India

This week’s episode features updates about La Liga securing a broadcast partner in the Indian Subcontinent, Mobile Premier League becoming the first Indian gaming platform to launch in the U.S, Broadcast viewership numbers for the Euro 2020 coverage in India, changes expected to be proposed by the BCCI for IPL’s future and we wrap up this week’s updates with SPN’s business end strong advertising numbers for India’s tour of Sri Lanka. 

So, let’s get into the details…

Our First update this week is about La Liga securing a broadcast partner in the Indian Subcontinent 

After ViacomCBS picked up the rights for the Uefa Champions League, Concacaf competitions, the American National Women’s Soccer League and Italy’s Serie A for their OTT Paramount+ in the USA, Viacom18 continue their global strategy of making football a centrepiece of its sports strategy by signing a 3-year linear and OTT deal with Spain’s La Liga in India.

This means that La Liga will return to more traditional mediums to showcase Spanish soccer’s top flight in the Indian subcontinent, three years after it linked up with Facebook to broadcast matches free of charge on the social network and after a short stint with SPN.

The league will be broadcast in the subcontinent on the Viacom18 network’s youth television channel MTV and some national and regional channels. La Liga matches will also be live-streamed on Voot and Jio platforms as part of the three-year deal.

The deal amount is undisclosed but what is clear is that the deal was facilitated by Rise Worldwide and the agreement covers India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

What will be interesting is if Viacom18’s programming strategy will only include match coverage or if it will do something similar to Paramount+ and include original and licensed documentaries to acquire and retain subscribers.

This week’s second update is about Mobile Premier League becoming the first Indian gaming platform to launch in the U.S 

Esports and gaming platform Mobile Premier League launched in the U.S last week after registering their app on App Store and Android.

MPL will provide gamers in the US the opportunity to compete in a variety of game formats, including head-to-head matches or in tournament play, with the option to participate in free competitions or for low minimum charges ranging from 60 Cents to $6.

The soaring popularity of casual real-money skill gaming has been cited as the reason to choose the U.S market as their next target market.

Their entry into the US market is their second international market after being in the Indonesian market for 2 years and accumulating 5 million registered users across 30 games on their platform.

Mobile Premier League is owned by Galactus Funware Technology and has more than 81 million registered users. It works with third-party game developers to offer head-to-head matches and tournament play.

Our third update this week is about the strong viewership numbers for the UEFA Euro 2020 from India

The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India recently revealed that the UEFA EURO 2020 on Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) witnessed 3.41 billion total viewing minutes first 20 matches as compared to 1.25 billion total viewing minutes (All India, Ages 2+) for EURO 2016.

The total viewing minutes increased by 173% over 2016 whereas cumulative reach per match increased by 46% over 2016. The first 20 matches registered 4.30 million cumulative reach (per match) as compared to 2.94 million cumulative reach per match. According to the BARC, 25 million viewers have tuned into Euro 2020 for the first 20 matches.

In terms of location-based consumption, Assam/North East has the highest viewership share with 37.7% followed by Kerala with 28.4%, West Bengal with 19.3%, and Maharashtra/Goa with 4% share.  

Once again, the four key regions with a football consumption legacy have prevailed and this is yet another proof that the four regions are big on football fandom at international and regional football.

Our fourth update is about the big changes expected to be proposed by the BCCI for IPL’s future

According to a leading English daily The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finalised its blueprint for the auctioning of two new Indian Premier League (IPL) teams besides the media rights. 

It has been reported that between August 2021 to January 2022, the BCCI will introduce tender documents for adding two new franchises besides the media rights auction. 

In this update I will talk about the three developments:

1. Addition of Two new franchises 
2. Media Rights Auction
3. Change in Salary structures for franchises

New franchises

BCCI will come out with a tender document for two new teams in mid-August while the bids will be opened in mid-October. 

Who are the front-runners for the two new franchises?

If reports are to be believed, Kolkata-based RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, Ahmedabad-based Adani Group, Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma, and the Torrent Group are some of the companies that will be in the mix to bid for two new IPL franchises.

Media Auction

The report also stated that the BCCI is planning the media rights auction towards the end of 2021. With the number of matches expected to go up with the addition of two new teams, the media rights auction is expected to see double-digit growth in bid amounts.

Salary changes 

The BCCI is also planning to increase the salary purse for franchises from Rs 85 crore to Rs 90 crore. Franchises will have to spend 75% of the allotted purse. The salary purse will see an addition of Rs 5 crore per year in the next three years. The salary purse for IPL 2024 is expected to be Rs 100 crore ahead of the 2024 season.

All the above-expected changes will make the IPL an even more exciting property and will help the IPL eco-system and stakeholders earn more money due to the increase in the scale of the league.

Our fifth and final update this week is about Sony Pictures Sports Network’s bumper deal for India’s tour of Sri Lanka 

Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), the official broadcaster for the India tour of Sri Lanka 2021 has roped in over 15 advertisers for the upcoming series.

The tour has received a great response from advertisers across sectors, said the broadcaster in a press note. Unacademy has been onboarded as presenting sponsor, Dream 11 and Skoda as co-powered by for the ODI series 2021.

According to industry insiders, SPN is charging Rs 6-8 crore for associate sponsorship, whereas for co-powered by sponsorship, the rates are between Rs 8-10 crore. Presenting sponsorship will be close to Rs 10-12 crore, while spot buys rates is around Rs 13 lakh for T20 and ODI put together.

As per industry estimates, the broadcaster is likely to earn approximately Rs 150-160 crore in revenue from TV whereas digital would be 20-30% of TV revenues. 

The series which will feature 3 ODIs and 3 T20s will be aired in India live in four languages: Sony Ten 1 and Sony Six in English, Sony Ten 3 in Hindi, and the newly launched Sony Ten 4 in Tamil and Telugu from 1.30 pm IST. It will also be live-streamed on the network’s on-demand OTT platform SonyLIV.

Our fourth update is about the big changes expected to be proposed by the BCCI for IPL’s future

According to a leading English daily The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finalised its blueprint for the auctioning of two new Indian Premier League (IPL) teams besides the media rights. 

It has been reported that between August 2021 to January 2022, the BCCI will introduce tender documents for adding two new franchises besides the media rights auction. 

In this update I will talk about the three developments:

1. Addition of Two new franchises 
2. Media Rights Auction
3. Change in Salary structures for franchises

New franchises

BCCI will come out with a tender document for two new teams in mid-August while the bids will be opened in mid-October. 

Who are the front-runners for the two new franchises?

If reports are to be believed, Kolkata-based RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, Ahmedabad-based Adani Group, Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma, and the Torrent Group are some of the companies that will be in the mix to bid for two new IPL franchises.

Media Auction

The report also stated that the BCCI is planning the media rights auction towards the end of 2021. With the number of matches expected to go up with the addition of two new teams, the media rights auction is expected to see double-digit growth in bid amounts.

Salary changes 

The BCCI is also planning to increase the salary purse for franchises from Rs 85 crore to Rs 90 crore. Franchises will have to spend 75% of the allotted purse. The salary purse will see an addition of Rs 5 crore per year in the next three years. The salary purse for IPL 2024 is expected to be Rs 100 crore ahead of the 2024 season.

All the above-expected changes will make the IPL an even more exciting property and will help the IPL eco-system and stakeholders earn more money due to the increase in the scale of the league.

Our fifth and final update this week is about Sony Pictures Sports Network’s bumper deal for India’s tour of Sri Lanka 

Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), the official broadcaster for the India tour of Sri Lanka 2021 has roped in over 15 advertisers for the upcoming series.

The tour has received a great response from advertisers across sectors, said the broadcaster in a press note. Unacademy has been onboarded as presenting sponsor, Dream 11 and Skoda as co-powered by for the ODI series 2021.

According to industry insiders, SPN is charging Rs 6-8 crore for associate sponsorship, whereas for co-powered by sponsorship, the rates are between Rs 8-10 crore. Presenting sponsorship will be close to Rs 10-12 crore, while spot buys rates is around Rs 13 lakh for T20 and ODI put together.

As per industry estimates, the broadcaster is likely to earn approximately Rs 150-160 crore in revenue from TV whereas digital would be 20-30% of TV revenues. 

The series which will feature 3 ODIs and 3 T20s will be aired in India live in four languages: Sony Ten 1 and Sony Six in English, Sony Ten 3 in Hindi, and the newly launched Sony Ten 4 in Tamil and Telugu from 1.30 pm IST. It will also be live-streamed on the network’s on-demand OTT platform SonyLIV.