Viacom18 is a joint venture between ViacomCBS Inc (NASDAQ: VIAC) and Reliance Industries Ltd.

For the coming auction, suitors are preparing bids for $5 billion+.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, the sport’s national governing body, looks to formally solicit bids for the next five years of broadcast and streaming rights for IPL. The monthlong auction will likely conclude by late March.

Disney, which currently holds the broadcast and streaming rights, faces a potentially steep rise in the cost to retain them. 

Price Action: DIS shares traded higher by 1.07% at $144 in the premarket session on the last check Wednesday.