World billionaires Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder) and Mukesh Ambani (Reliance chairman) are preparing for a confrontation. The fight for the media rights of cricket, one of the fastest growing sports in the world, with a brand value of nearly six billion dollars, attracting over 600 million spectators.
Billionaire companies are participating in the IPL auction on June 12. Jeff Bezos and Ambani fight for $ 7.7 billion cricket rights
The main rivals are Walt Disney Company and Sony Group Corporation, which held the rights until last season. Winners will have the right to play in the IPL for five years.
Sources said that Amazon, which has selected the IPL out of half a dozen global sports items, is determined to bid. Amazon spends about $ 1 billion a year on the rights to show the National Football League online.
Reliance and both are commanded. Sixty-five-year-old Ambani has been making moves for this since the middle of last year. Sources close to him say that they are finding and hiring talented executives for the job. Reliance’s war room includes Ambani’s bodyguard Manoj Modi and his eldest son Aakash Ambani. Uday Shankar, former head of Fox’s and later Disney’s India-Asia-Pacific operations, will also strengthen the team.
The world’s billionaires are attracted to the IPL by the large number of spectators. The IPL was watched by 350 million people in the first quarter of last season alone.