Franchise cricket leagues now sell streaming rights separately from television rights. The split was a deliberate design choice in how the tender was constructed, and it changed what the property is worth.
Bundled rights limited the bidder pool
When television and digital were sold together, only companies operating both a channel and a platform could bid seriously. That narrowed the auction to a handful of established broadcasters.
A small pool means a predictable outcome and limited price pressure, since each bidder can estimate what the others can afford and bid just above it.
Splitting the package admits technology companies and streaming platforms that have no channel and no interest in acquiring one, which enlarges the field substantially.
The two audiences behave differently
Television reaches households collectively and performs strongly in markets with established cable and satellite penetration, delivering large simultaneous audiences.
Streaming reaches individuals on phones, which suits viewers who watch in transit or at work, and it reports its audience with a precision television measurement cannot match.
Because the behaviours differ, the two buyers are not straightforwardly competing for the same viewers, which makes them willing to pay separately for overlapping content.
Tenders are built as combinable packages
A league typically offers several lots: domestic television, domestic digital, overseas territories and sometimes a subset of premium fixtures, each biddable alone or in combination.
Bidders may exceed the sum of the individual lots to secure a combination, and rules govern whether such an aggregate bid can displace separate winning bids.
Designing those rules is the substance of the tender. They determine whether the outcome is one buyer paying a premium for everything or several paying more in total.
Digital changed what the product includes
A streaming buyer wants more than the match feed. Multiple camera angles, alternative commentary languages, in-app statistics and clip rights are all part of what is negotiated.
Language feeds matter especially in large multilingual markets, where regional commentary can attract audiences the primary feed never reaches.
Producing those additional feeds costs money, and the tender specifies who bears it, which affects the effective value of a headline fee considerably.
The split creates a fragmented viewer experience
Where different buyers hold television and digital, a viewer may find matches on one service and highlights on another, with clip rights fragmented further across social platforms.
Leagues manage that with strict rules on what each holder may publish and when, since uncontrolled clip distribution devalues the exclusive rights that were sold.
The friction is accepted because the revenue difference is large. Convenience for the viewer is weighed against a number, and the number generally wins.
