ICC media rights tender explained: FAQ on what’s happening, what’s not and the clamour around it all | Cricket News – Times of India
MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC), by way of a tender document, has asked interested broadcasters to come forward and submit bids.
There’s been enough chatter already on the bid process being “too convoluted” and “lacking transparency”.
But what exactly are these complications? Here’s a FAQ detailing the entire process.
What: Bidding for all ICC events for either four or eight years.
What does it mean: Bids are being invited for the following events and cycles: 1) There’s an option of submitting a bid for a four-year cycle that includes one 50-over World Cup, two T20 World Cups, one Champions Trophy between 2024 and 2027. 2) There’s also an option of submitting a bid for an eight-year cycle that includes two 50-over World Cups, four T20 World Cups and two Champions Trophy events.
When: The ICC has called for a closed bid (financial) on August 26. They say if the bids are “not satisfactory”, they will call for an e-auction in Round Two on August 28.
Who can bid: Technical bids need to be submitted on August 22. Any broadcaster that clears it can participate.
What’s Round 1 & Round 2: Round 1 is the closed bid. Only if the ICC says it is “not satisfied” with the bids in Round 1, it will call for Round 2 of bidding – to be held by way of an e-auction. For Round 2, the ICC will want the broadcasters to participate in a mock auction.
Where’s the confusion: The ICC hasn’t clarified what are the metrics that underline the word “satisfaction”. They say: We will open the financial bids in private (not in front of the bidders) and decide if we are fine with it. They also say, it’s not necessary that rights will be awarded to the highest bidder or an eight or four-year bid. They’ve kept it all open, without explaining the process, and say “ICC alone will take a call”.
Is there further confusion: The financial bids will be submitted on August 26. Two representatives of each bidder will be allowed in the room, when the submissions are done. But all bids won’t be opened in front of all representatives. They’ll be asked to exit the room, and the bids will be opened privately. The broadcasters neither like nor trust this process.
What are the broadcasters saying: The process is too complicated, unclear and lacks all logic. 1. Not sharing how they’ll differentiate between four and eight years; 2. Saying it’s not necessary that the highest bidder will win; 3. Not opening the bids in front of everyone or announcing it immediately; 4. Not explaining why an eight-year bid is needed in the first place; 5. The process lacks any bit of transparency – the broadcasters have a long list that makes them wary and suspicious of the process.
What is the need for an eight-year cycle: The ICC has not spoken about this officially but the industry points out that “only an eight year bid will allow six or seven cricket boards around the world (facing bankruptcy) to earn from ICC revenues over a sustained period of time and allow them to receive payments in advance against the guarantee of participation in events”.
Does this make sense: The process is convoluted because the broadcasters aren’t being told in writing how the ICC will determine the value of the eight-year bid against four years. Further, while other cricket boards are expecting revenues for a sustainable period of time, they too have no idea how much they will earn over the course of next eight years.
What’s the ICC saying: The ICC says it has identified the “best possible process” and expects all potential bidders to participate. The ICC also says, “we can only hope they’ll come to the bidding table”. They also believe that a closed bid – as against an e-auction – will help in better price discovery.
Does Round 2 make sense: BCCI secretary Jay Shah had asked ICC – in a Chief Executives meeting – to conduct an e-auction in Round 1 itself. The logic, among other things, is also based on the fact that if broadcasters put their numbers by way of a closed bid in Round 1, on what basis will Round 2 begin and if Round 2 is clearly the more transparent and possible way, why not hold e-auctions in the first round itself.
Does closed bid help in better price discovery: It’s a classic case of what came first – chicken or the egg. One can never know. That said, for a public body, say top industry executives and member boards – transparency becomes far more important than top-dollar.
Will mock auctions happen: ICC says “some” (without identifying who) broadcasters have agreed to participate in the mock auctions, a warm-up to the e-auctions. There are some broadcasters though who haven’t confirmed yet. The mock auctions are scheduled for August 17.
What is likely to happen now: The broadcasters won’t budge from their stand and wait until the last minute to see if they want to put in a bid. While nobody is convinced with the ICC’s process, there’s also the “fear of missing out” that nobody wants to experience.
There’s been enough chatter already on the bid process being “too convoluted” and “lacking transparency”.
But what exactly are these complications? Here’s a FAQ detailing the entire process.
What: Bidding for all ICC events for either four or eight years.
What does it mean: Bids are being invited for the following events and cycles: 1) There’s an option of submitting a bid for a four-year cycle that includes one 50-over World Cup, two T20 World Cups, one Champions Trophy between 2024 and 2027. 2) There’s also an option of submitting a bid for an eight-year cycle that includes two 50-over World Cups, four T20 World Cups and two Champions Trophy events.
When: The ICC has called for a closed bid (financial) on August 26. They say if the bids are “not satisfactory”, they will call for an e-auction in Round Two on August 28.
Who can bid: Technical bids need to be submitted on August 22. Any broadcaster that clears it can participate.
What’s Round 1 & Round 2: Round 1 is the closed bid. Only if the ICC says it is “not satisfied” with the bids in Round 1, it will call for Round 2 of bidding – to be held by way of an e-auction. For Round 2, the ICC will want the broadcasters to participate in a mock auction.
Where’s the confusion: The ICC hasn’t clarified what are the metrics that underline the word “satisfaction”. They say: We will open the financial bids in private (not in front of the bidders) and decide if we are fine with it. They also say, it’s not necessary that rights will be awarded to the highest bidder or an eight or four-year bid. They’ve kept it all open, without explaining the process, and say “ICC alone will take a call”.
Is there further confusion: The financial bids will be submitted on August 26. Two representatives of each bidder will be allowed in the room, when the submissions are done. But all bids won’t be opened in front of all representatives. They’ll be asked to exit the room, and the bids will be opened privately. The broadcasters neither like nor trust this process.
What are the broadcasters saying: The process is too complicated, unclear and lacks all logic. 1. Not sharing how they’ll differentiate between four and eight years; 2. Saying it’s not necessary that the highest bidder will win; 3. Not opening the bids in front of everyone or announcing it immediately; 4. Not explaining why an eight-year bid is needed in the first place; 5. The process lacks any bit of transparency – the broadcasters have a long list that makes them wary and suspicious of the process.
What is the need for an eight-year cycle: The ICC has not spoken about this officially but the industry points out that “only an eight year bid will allow six or seven cricket boards around the world (facing bankruptcy) to earn from ICC revenues over a sustained period of time and allow them to receive payments in advance against the guarantee of participation in events”.
Does this make sense: The process is convoluted because the broadcasters aren’t being told in writing how the ICC will determine the value of the eight-year bid against four years. Further, while other cricket boards are expecting revenues for a sustainable period of time, they too have no idea how much they will earn over the course of next eight years.
What’s the ICC saying: The ICC says it has identified the “best possible process” and expects all potential bidders to participate. The ICC also says, “we can only hope they’ll come to the bidding table”. They also believe that a closed bid – as against an e-auction – will help in better price discovery.
Does Round 2 make sense: BCCI secretary Jay Shah had asked ICC – in a Chief Executives meeting – to conduct an e-auction in Round 1 itself. The logic, among other things, is also based on the fact that if broadcasters put their numbers by way of a closed bid in Round 1, on what basis will Round 2 begin and if Round 2 is clearly the more transparent and possible way, why not hold e-auctions in the first round itself.
Does closed bid help in better price discovery: It’s a classic case of what came first – chicken or the egg. One can never know. That said, for a public body, say top industry executives and member boards – transparency becomes far more important than top-dollar.
Will mock auctions happen: ICC says “some” (without identifying who) broadcasters have agreed to participate in the mock auctions, a warm-up to the e-auctions. There are some broadcasters though who haven’t confirmed yet. The mock auctions are scheduled for August 17.
What is likely to happen now: The broadcasters won’t budge from their stand and wait until the last minute to see if they want to put in a bid. While nobody is convinced with the ICC’s process, there’s also the “fear of missing out” that nobody wants to experience.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsBit.us is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
