NEW DELHI (BLOOMBERG) - Jeff Bezos and Mukesh Ambani, billionaires who have been battling for years in India, are headed for a ferocious new clash over rights to the country's cricket matches.
Earlier this week, the Indian Premier League (IPL) unveiled guidelines to auction off media rights and they seem designed to raise bids - and tensions.
For the first time, the rights to broadcast matches on TV and to stream them online will be sold separately, opening the door to Bezos' Amazon and its Prime video service.
Ambani's Reliance Industries, India's biggest multinational conglomerate, is also determined to win, according to people familiar with the matter, as the companies fight for e-commerce supremacy in one of the world's fastest-growing markets.
The cricket contest will take place live online over the course of two days, which means proxies for the two men will have to make minute-by-minute bids and counterbids in real-time.
Imagine a Sotheby's-style auction with Amazon founder Bezos and Reliance chairman Ambani, worth about US$275 billion (S$373 billion) and US$100 billion respectively, bidding for a prize that only one can ultimately possess.
"Winning the auction is about prestige and vanity, so Reliance, Amazon and others can be expected to flex their muscles," said Aditi Shrivastava, co-founder and chief executive officer at digital entertainment start-up Pocket Aces. "It's a big deal and bidders will surely fight tooth and nail to win the rights."
The event, which starts on June 12, could see bets of US$7 billion or more, according to people close to the process.
At stake are the rights to show dozens of IPL matches from next year to 2027, with separate auctions to decide the winners for live-streaming and broadcasting in different regions.
For comparison, Amazon is paying about US$1 billion a year for the rights to show the National Football League online, but that is for Thursday night games rather than the prime weekend games.
The auction is generating intense interest in India, where the sport is a national obsession, and the IPL, comprising 10 teams and over 70 matches, is one of the world's most watched tournaments.
Live-streaming matches is an effective way of reaching the country's 1.4 billion people, who are increasingly watching sports on their mobile devices.
"If successful, you've captured an attentive audience for six straight weeks every year for five years," Shrivastava added. "It's the biggest viewership event of the year in India."
Though Amazon and Reliance are the most ambitious, they join a horde of competitors, including Disney-owned Star India and its Disney Hotstar streaming service.
Also in the mix is a newly-created media behemoth that combines Sony Pictures and India's Zee Entertainment Enterprises, while Facebook and YouTube are also considering bidding, multiple people said.
Winning streaming rights would represent a prestigious get for Amazon or Reliance. They are both eager to control a large share of digital opportunities in India.
The bidding adds more friction between the two companies, which are already locked in a power struggle over the assets of Future Group, a debt-laden Indian retail chain. Neither side has budged an inch, leading to three dozen legal cases between Amazon and Future Group - with Reliance hovering in the background.
Ultimately, the prize is also about bragging rights in India's e-commerce market.
