Alphabet, owner of the ubiquitous search engine Google, has flagged an interest in bidding for the broadcast rights of the Indian Premier League, or IPL, joining the ranks of half a dozen media giants vying for the coveted asset in cricket-crazy India.<\/p>\n
The American tech company, which also has the video-streaming website YouTube, purchased the bid-related documents from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, or BCCI, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named as the information isn\u2019t public.<\/p>\n
SuperSport, a South Africa-based group of television channels, bought the documents too, according to a person familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n
Amazon.com, Walt Disney, billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, Sony Group, homegrown Zee Entertainment Enterprises and fantasy-sports platform Dream11 have also signalled their interest by purchasing these information dockets from BCCI, Bloomberg reported earlier.<\/p>\n
Google\u2019s interest in the global media rights of India\u2019s top cricket league intensifies the fight for a sports event that has emerged as the world\u2019s third-largest, trailing only the Premier League and the National Football League in terms of viewers.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s edition of the IPL brought in 600 million viewers, according to BCCI estimates, underscoring the sheer media clout this event represents in India\u2019s highly competitive entertainment market.<\/p>\n
BCCI and a YouTube representative in India declined to comment.<\/p>\n