Why is Jeff Bezos interested in cricket India

first, the rights for streaming the tournament on television and mobile/OTT platforms will be auctioned separately. And Jeff Bezos is looking to acquire the mobile streaming rights for his Amazon Prime Video. On the other hand, Mukesh Ambani is also eyeing the same for his Jio services.

An executive of one of the companies involved said, "winning this auction will benefit you for commercial reasons, but it is also a fight for honour between two companies. Both companies will fight to buy the rights". It becomes even more relevant because Reliance and Amazon were previously engaged in litigation which Reliance won. But these two may not be the only leading contenders, as many insider sources claim that Apple TV and Disney are also interested.

Jeff Bezos's Amazon prime is  2nd most subscribed OTT(over the top) service in India. Out of 80 million paying subscribers in the country, Amazon prime has 22.3 million. On the other hand, IPL is the richest cricket league globally and has one of the highest viewership in sports. In India, it has a cult following as not only cricketing superstars but also movie stars, politicians, and big business tycoons all are associated with the league in one capacity or another. The Indian Premier League generates revenue for everyone involved. In 2021, despite the pandemic, IPL's brand value was 4.7. Billion.

In this scenario, if Amazon can acquire the right to stream IPL games on mobile platforms, it will increase its numbers in India. The deal will mean that for the next five years, six weeks every year, Amazon prime will be the most-watched OTT in India. And the contract is made sweeter because the IPL is also very popular in other cricketing countries as players from almost all leading cricketing nations participate in it.

This much-awaited auction will be taking place on 12th June. Various experts estimate that the media rights could bring in up to 6 billion dollars (Rs 53046 crore). Other sources claim that the bidding will only start at 7 billion dollars. We have to wait and see what could very well be a mammoth bidding war between 2 giants.