Thread by @KShriniwasRao

#IPL #NFL

Laying bare some comparisons...

A short #Thread

After the recent #IPLMediaRights auction, the value of a single game touched US$15.1m (US$6.2b for a total of 410 games). That's Rs 118 cr per game (total of Rs 44,390 cr for 410.)

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In doing so, the per-match value in IPL crossed the per-match value of the English Premier League (EPL). That bit is right. EPL per-match value at present exchange stands at US$11m.

At 380 games, that's a total of US$12b for a three-year rights cycle.

But fair enough.

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However, the comparisons with NFL (at US$17m per game) are not correct. There are some calculation errors on the chart.

We have been making an enormous mistake in determining the value of the NFL rights from a per-match perspective.

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Let me share some data here. After the numbers were showcased to compare, I spoke with a few industry executives and one gentleman in particular who understands this space extremely well. He was generous enough to help understand.

Here's how things stand in NFL.

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Excluding pre-season, there are 285 NFL games per season. The media rights (on the new US deals) are at $10bn per year. It's $35m per game (not $17m).

But not all games are broadcast nationally. At an estimate, just 50%.

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Now, it's is a matter for debate whether the right metric is $ per game or $ per game broadcast nationally.

Each week of the regular season in NFL, there are up to 16 games. Sometimes fewer because of teams having a bye-week.

The buckets are a whole new level altogether.

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There are 3 national game windows -- Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights. One game per week is in each of those windows and the whole country can watch.

These are generally the games that are expected to be the most attractive.

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The other -- 13 games per week -- are broadcast on Sunday afternoon (either at 1pm ET or at 4pm ET). Each TV market only gets up to 2 games (1 per Conference) in each of those 2 Sunday windows.

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So for instance, in New York, fans can watch either of the NY Giants on Fox or NY Jets on CBS. In Cleveland at the same time, fans can watch Browns on CBS. Local Fox stations will probably show a different game in that window - or may choose not show any NFL game at that time.

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Likewise for other markets.

So the maximum games that any one person can watch live in a normal week is seven.

If you are a Cowboys fan living in Washington, you need to buy Sunday Ticket from 'Directv' if you want to watch the Cowboys every week.

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directv.com/sports/nfl/

Each broadcaster has its own window - NBC Sunday night, ESPN Monday night etc. The schedule has to keep everyone as happy as possible.

The MLB number, that the media has reported, is also way off (but I'll keep that for another day).

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Using total games in the season -- rather than games broadcast -- for comparisons between leagues is fine. It is to IPL’s credit that the schedule is set so that every game is broadcast nationally & that the ratings are so high for those games.

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So the actual pet-match number for a NFL game stands at US$35m and not US$17m.

But then, we're talking about the grand-daddy of sports leagues around the world.

The IPL is only about to turn 16. Us$15.1m per game is a massive number and there's a long way to go.

🙂

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