Media agency Group M and digital movie exhibitors and distributors UFO Moviez are front runners to secure the in-theatre telecast rights for the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
According to Business Standard, although an official announcement is yet to be made, sources from the IPL confirmed negotiations with Group M and UFO Moviez are taking place. The tender process for theatre rights began earlier this month.
"We are working out something for IPL but I cannot share the details at the moment,” said Raaja Kanwar, vice-chairman and director of UFO Moviez. “We have the technology to telecast a live match within a multiplex in real time and we will come out with all the details soon."
Regarding the prospect of showing the IPL in its multiplexes, Devang Sampat, vice-president of the Cinemax, added: “We will definitely show IPL on at least one screen every day. But we will have to market the tournament really fast. The average ticket price will work out to around Rs 100 ($1.96).”
In-theatre telecast rights cover matches shown live in “stadium-like” environment in 250 multiplexes. The 59-match Twenty20 IPL tournament, recently relocated to South Africa, starts on April 18.
It is believed in-theatre rights could generate revenues of around Rs 18 crore ($3.5 million) to Rs 20 crore ($3.9 million). The theatre rights-holder is likely to exhibit the IPL matches on a revenue-sharing model with the multiplexes that air them.
