A consortium headed by Reliance Industries and its television partner Viacom is reportedly aiming to outbid major entertainment companies for broadcasting rights to the Indian Premier League.

Primarily owned by Mukesh Ambani, the richest sports team owner in the world with a $84.5 billion net worth, Reliance is looking to include Lupa Systems and Comcast in its group. Bids for the five-year deal starting in 2023 are reportedly expected to surpass $5.3 billion.

The consortium is expected to go up against Amazon, Disney, and Sony and Zee Entertainment.

• Amazon and Reliance are already in a legal battle for India’s Future Group.
• Disney-owned Star India’s $2.6 billion, five-year deal for the league’s rights ends this year. The company launched its Disney+ OTT service in India in March 2020 in alignment with the IPL season.
• That recent price tag was nearly four times what Sony paid in its 10-year deal for the rights starting in 2008.

Sony is expected to purchase a 50.86% stake in Zee, and pending regulatory approval, the pair will be able to bid together. Sony says it “will evaluate bidding for both broadcast and digital rights.”

The winning bidder is expected to be announced by late March or early April.

IPL’s Mass Appeal

Some have coined the IPL “a cult event that’s considered the Super Bowl of cricket,” and its numbers add up. The league had 380 million viewers last year, and this year added two teams and increased the number of matches to 74.

The Premier League is auctioning off its first NFT license, and Sorare is reportedly getting in on the action, despite warnings from a United Kingdom government agency about its product.

The blockchain-based soccer game company is one of four companies in the running for a deal to produce digital collectibles for the league. 

• Bids for the NFT license reportedly range from $299 million to $589.8 million over four years. 
• In October 2021, the UK Gambling Commission opened an inquiry into Sorare to determine whether it should be required to hold a gambling license in the country. The agency noted that Sorare is not currently regulated as a gambling company, and that customers should exercise caution.
• Sorare offers an ethereum-based game in which users may buy, sell, and trade digital soccer player cards and win prizes when their team performs well. 

The Premier League boasts enormous global popularity: Its international media deals total $7.2 billion for the 2022-25 cycle, beating its domestic returns — $6.9 billion — for the first time.

Raise Hits So-Rare Heights

In September, France-based Sorare brought in $680 million in a funding round led by SoftBank – one of the largest Series B rounds in Europe’s history. 

The round valued the company at $4.3 billion. Sorare said it would use the funds to acquire licenses and grow its team beyond the 30 employees it had at the time. The company said it works with over 230 clubs.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, invested $40 million in Tokyo-based mobile gaming company Playco earlier this year, according to Axios. 

The investment allows Playco to expand its user base by reaching as many platforms as possible and adds to Meta’s New Product Experiences division, which was established to allow Facebook to experiment with new apps that align with plans for future projects.

• Playco is aiming to build a game that more than 1 billion people can play.
• It wants its games to be multiplatform and available on major social networks.

In September 2020, Playco completed a $100 million Series A funding round valuing the company at more than $1 billion. The round was led by Sequoia Capital and venture capitalist Josh Buckley. 

Playco used the fresh capital to launch its first gaming titles “Ask Away” and “Heads Up!,” which were built from the ground up for video teleconferencing app Zoom.

It also used the cash to make an acquisition of its own by purchasing Goodboy Digital, a maker of an HTML5 game engine, for an undisclosed amount in September 2021. 

Win Some, Lose Some

Meta generated $33.7 billion in revenue in Q4 2021, a 20% increase compared to the same period the year prior. The company’s Reality Labs segment, which includes its VR and AR products, posted $877 million in revenue in Q4 — its best quarterly revenue in FY2021.

Despite the results, the segment reported an operating loss of $3.3 billion during the quarter.

One of Brazil’s most storied soccer clubs just got a new owner. 

Miami-based investment firm 777 Partners has agreed to acquire a 70% stake in Brazilian soccer club Vasco da Gama, both parties announced on Monday.

Jorge Salgado, president of Vasco da Gama, billed it as “the biggest deal in the history of Brazilian clubs” in a statement.

• 777 Partners will pay $138 million for the stake.
• The company will also take on debts. 
• The team is now valued at $336 million.

The deal will “help Vasco regain its leading role in Brazilian and international football,” per Salgado. It will give the club an opportunity to “modernize” through data resources for talent acquisition as well as media and broadcasting technology.

There will be a confirmation period over the next 90 days before the deal is final. 

Soccer Strategy

For 777 Partners, the move is just the latest in a foray into global soccer. 

In September of 2021, the firm bought full ownership of Genoa C.F.C. for $175 million. It also has a significant stake in Sevilla FC.

Founded in 2015, the company has several other sports-industry brands in its portfolio, including the British Basketball League and ATA Football, a women’s soccer platform.