My overall point is not about if any broadcaster making money or not but my emphasis is more on the process itself, which wasn't transparent.
In comparison to this, look at the IPL auction and the broadcasters loved it, that's why Indian broadcasters were not happy with the ICC. It reflected on bidding as we already know that second/third bids were way too low. The next cycle could be different.
In the end, the ICC benefited from the bidding process.
If it was e-auction, then in all probability they would have received around $1 billion less. And they may continue the same system for the next cycle (2028-2031). A lot will depend on how much money Disney-Star (as well as ZEE) will make during the current cycle). E-auction system has its own benefits and disadvantages. The disadvantage is that since there are only 2-3 serious bidders, it is easy for them to enter into some sort of a backend deal and lower the auction amount. E-auction works when there are at least half a dozen active bidders. That was not the case during last time.
Yeah, and still that amount would have doubled as we know the previous cycle was for 8 years.
Little more clarity on the UK (SKY deal), they paid $260 Million for 8 years period so it's fair to guess that the Australian deal might be around $100-150 Million as their contract is for 4 years only.
Check the latter bold part (I predicted this last year when ICC cleared the $3 billion deal for Indian market), BCCI will now stir the pot as they are bringing 90% of revenue.
A new revenue distribution model
The F&CA will begin discussions on a new model to divvy up the ICC's broadcast money (and commercial earnings) over the next rights cycle. It is not going to be a simple discussion - it wasn't for the current cycle, where the rights were sold in 2014 for eight years as one bundle to one broadcaster, for approximately USD 2.1 billion.
This time round, the ICC is selling rights separately in different regional markets, as well as unbundling them into different packages - one for TV only, one for digital only, one for both, over four and eight years - and men's and women's events treated separately. That has already brought a much greater value than the last cycle, even accounting for there being more events. Last August, Disney Star* secured the rights to broadcast ICC events in India for four years from 2024 to 2027. That deal is said to be worth just north of USD 3 billion. The ICC has also recently sold rights in the UK market to Sky Sports for eight years, in a deal worth around USD 260 million. On Friday, the ICC announced the US rights going to Willow, leaving the subcontinent rights (excluding India) to go.
So, much more money, but also more challenges in distributing it. The F&CA is headed by the BCCI secretary Jay Shah and given that the India market now has a tangible separate value, it will only strengthen the longstanding BCCI belief that they should receive a lion's share of it. Smaller members are also wanting enhanced shares, especially as they ended up with less than the expected amounts from the last cycle after ICC projections fell slightly short.
The battles over the financial model last time round were epic, not least because of the tumult caused by the Big Three takeover and then eventual rollback. The BCCI, ultimately, wasn't happy with its share. The global calendar is more fractured and complicated now, only adding to the difficulties in navigating this. The discussions will start this weekend but the expectation is to not expect a new model anytime soon.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/icc-board-meeting-set-to-discuss-india-pakistan-situation-and-the-afghanistan-question-1363981