Live Current Media Signs $50M Deal For Online Rights To Indian Cricket

by Jarrett Martineau | April 17, 2008 at 09:38 am

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This is a huge sum of money for online rights, however, judging from the massive popularity of cricket both in India and abroad, this will likely prove to be a very smart and lucrative investment for Live Current Media.

Here’s a deal straight out of Rupert Murdoch’s playbook circa 1994. Just like Murdoch established Fox back then by paying an exorbitant-seeming sum ($1.6 billion at the time) for the rights to broadcast the NFL, Live Current Media is paying $50 million over ten years for the exclusive online rights to official content from the Indian Premier League (a new cricket league in India with a shorter, more fan-friendly version of the game—first match is tomorrow). Cricket is huge in India and elsewhere. It is a sport perfect for online distribution, with fans spread all over the world. Globally there are about one billion fans, estimates Live Current Media. And the Indian Premier League has already on track to generate $2 billion overall this year.