The International Cricket Council (ICC) is facing a big challenge before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to be held in the country in 2026. Reliance Industries’ JioStar has formally told the ICC that it cannot operate the remaining two years of its four-year India media-rights deal due to huge financial losses. The report quoted sources as saying that the ICC has started a new sale process of India’s media rights for 2026-29 and is demanding about $2.4 billion.
The value of ICC’s media rights for the 2024-27 cycle was estimated at 3 billion dollars i.e. about 27 thousand crore rupees. In which a major men’s event was scheduled every year. The media report quoted sources as saying that with JioStar indicating to withdraw from the contract which runs till 2027, the ICC has approached Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), Netflix and Amazon Prime Video for the rights. According to officials familiar with the discussions, no platform has shown any concrete interest so far due to pricing concerns, leaving the way forward for the ICC unclear. On the other hand, till now no official statement has come from ICC nor any digital platform.
Understand Jio’s loss from data
JioStar has more than doubled its provisions for expected losses on heavy sports contracts in 2024-25 to Rs 25,760 crore, from Rs 12,319 crore a year ago. The growth, reported in the company’s audited standalone financial details, reflects pressure from long-term sports rights, which are expected to yield less than their execution costs.
According to a regulatory filing, Star India, before the merger with Viacom18, had reported a standalone net loss of Rs 12,548 crore for the year ending March 31, 2024, mainly due to a hefty contract of Rs 12,319 crore related to its ICC media-rights deal. However, the ICC recorded a surplus of $474 million in 2024, which shows the strong economy of cricket, while JioStar is facing huge losses.
Financial Nerve Center
India accounts for almost 80 per cent of the ICC’s revenues, reflecting both its dominance and the game’s dependence on a single market. Industry experts say the price asked is too high even for an established player like SPNI. Despite having several major international rights, including the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) worth $170 million, New Zealand Cricket ($100 million) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (over $200 million), it has maintained a conservative approach to cricket.
There is so much pressure on India’s sports rights landscape that SPNI earlier this year sub-licensed the digital rights of the India-England bilateral series to Jiostar to reduce its financial risk. The pressure on Jiostar, which had become cricket’s biggest advertiser, has increased following the ban on real-money gaming.
Industry executives said although traditional brands have come back, neither sector can fill the nearly $840 million (Rs 7,000 crore) gap left by real-money gaming and fantasy platforms like Dream11 and My11Circle.
Netflix has stayed away from cricket in India and is focusing on premium entertainment programs and is in the early stages of testing sports-entertainment properties like WWE, which it inherited as part of a $5 billion global deal. Prime Video’s association with cricket is also limited.
Its New Zealand cricket partnership with India expires early next year and it has ICC rights in Australia until 2027. Globally, streaming platforms are investing more in live sports to offset slowing subscription growth.
continuously decreasing profit
But with rights costs rising, especially for leagues like the NBA, NFL and MLB, they have remained selective and are prioritizing assets that offer clear returns, rather than making blanket bids for every big package. Even if the ICC ultimately fails to find a new broadcaster, JioStar will remain obligated to fulfill the contract through 2027.
However, the current sales process of new media rights highlights the ongoing improvement in the sports media landscape. The International Olympic Committee and FIFA are also facing difficulties in getting the desired valuation in India.
Officials said several factors are making potential bidders cautious. Monetization of bilateral and multilateral cricket remains limited amid slow advertising demand and continued pressure on linear TV profitability from a declining payment base and low advertising volumes and pricing.
Due to the pressure of losses, broadcasters are hesitant to buy big sports rights in future. Also, the merger of Star India and Viacom18 into JioStar has virtually created a stranglehold in sports broadcasting, leaving only JioStar and SPNI as serious contenders and limiting options for rights holders like ICC.
