The Indian cricket board said it had received interest from Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) for media rights to the popular Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament.

The social media companies are among a host of other firms including Star India Pvt Ltd, Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Reliance Jio and ESPN Digital Media that have shown interest in acquiring media rights for the annual tournament.

The bids for the rights - for 2018 onwards - are expected by Oct. 25.

Cricket is the most popular sport in India and teams in the IPL count Bollywood stars and major conglomerates such as Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) as investors.