Mumbai, India — Sorry, American sports fans — there are no indications that YouTube is working with the NBA, NHL, or MLB. But according to reports, Cricket enthusiasts should rejoice as it will soon be possible to watch live Indian Premier League cricket matches on YouTube after details of a possible deal with Google emerged this week, according Indian media release.
Reflecting over its troubles in China, Google is expected to announce today a deal to broadcast matches of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament, the country’s most lucrative sporting event, live on YouTube.
According to media reports, which says the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the search engine will announce a partnership today – which indicates that live matches will be aired in countries where the TV rights have not been sold – which could include the UK.
No TV deal has been proposed for the UK following the break down of Setanta, which held the TV and Internet rights to the competition.
YouTube is expected to show 45-day Indian Premier League’s 59 matches beginning March 12th. The content should be available to people in multiple regions, too, although it is possible that some countries will be excluded for the sake of not stepping on broadcasters’ toes.
As for the business side of things, this is not planned to be some sort of money-losing attention-getter. Andrew McCormick wrote, “YouTube wishes to sign a global sponsor and multiple local backers as part of its strategy to make money from the coverage.”
The highly anticipated two-year Internet broadcasting contract follows a glamorous players’ auction yesterday in Mumbai, where the Bollywood stars and industrialists who own the tournament’s eight teams paid more than $750,000 (€525,000, £460,000) for some cricketers.
“Google is clearly aware of the potential of India,” said Jehil Thakkar, executive director, media and entertainment practice at KPMG, the professional services firm. “India is the fourth or fifth largest nation for Internet traffic even though broadband and Internet penetration is lower.”
And Bruce Daisley, Google UK’s leader for YouTube and display ads, said, “We are keen to see how the community will take to live sport. There is a real interest in live events, so we are excited.”
YouTube had already published highlights of last year’s IPL on an existing channel. Moreover, YouTube has been testing large-scale live events such as a U2 concert and was on Tuesday due to stream the IPL’s pre-season “auction,” in which teams will bid for 51 players.
India’s Sony Entertainment Television and Singaporean World Sport Group jointly hold domestic and global IPL broadcast rights in a $1.2 billion 10-year deal, and have resold to a patchwork of global players. Willow TV holds North America Internet rights.
Under its deal, Google is expected to offer IPL matches on YouTube with revenue stemming from advertising and sponsorship deals, people familiar with the matter said.
Google declined to comment. No value for the deal has yet been disclosed.
Google’s leadership and flexibility to conduct business in India, where it is the top search engine, stands in contrast to its fortunes in China, where it has threatened to pull out over alleged interference by the Chinese government.
The YouTube broadcast plan is a first for India and shows the appeal of the IPL to multinationals. Sony owns the television broadcast rights and others, such as Vodafone of the UK, have captured some of the main TV sponsorship slots.
An event like the IPL could be an important shot in the arm to YouTube’s ad sales. And, if things work-out well, then it sounds as if this could be a first step to getting more live sports coverage onto YouTube.