Cricket for free might be loss-making. But Disney-Reliance duo are betting long
₹25,000 crore) for the rights to broadcast International Cricket Council (ICC) events in India between 2023 and 2027. It has since followed a strategy of broadcasting marquee events such as the 2023 World Cup and the ongoing T20 World Cup free online, relying on advertisement revenues. Disney+Hotstar did execute a deal for around $1.4 billion with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, which was to take over the TV broadcasting rights.
But Zee missed the deadlines for the first tranche of payments, and has subsequently said it was terminating the agreement. The ICC digital rights include the right to stream World Cup matches, Women’s World Cups, the World Test Championship, Asia Cups, U-19 championships, etc. Ad revenues from the 2023 World Cup were reckoned to reach nearly ₹3,000 crore.
Industry insiders reckon the ongoing T20 World Cup in the US will generate ₹1,500-2,000 crore. Those are the two premier earners, and ad revenues from other ICC events are much less. The next World Cup in Southern Africa in 2027 would be covered under this four-year term.
That event should also earn substantial revenue, and let’s assume there are strong earnings from all the other events. Even so, it is unlikely that revenues from cricket would cover the sum of $3 billion paid for the four-year term of broadcasting rights, not to mention the substantial costs of doing broadcasts. It would be reasonable to assume the ICC cricket rights would be aggregate loss-making in this four-year cycle.
The Disney-Reliance joint venture also holds the rights for the Indian Premier League, or IPL, cricket tournament. Also read | The Reliance-Disney merger is great for them. But will it be for consumers? So what is the rationale behind the broadcaster
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