On June 14, 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secured the biggest broadcast deal in cricket history: ₹48,390 crore ($6.2 billion) for Indian Premier League media rights spanning 2023-2027.
For the first time ever, the BCCI split broadcasting rights between television and digital platforms. Disney Star retained TV rights for ₹23,575 crore. Reliance-backed Viacom18 grabbed digital rights for ₹23,758 crore, marking the first time digital rights commanded higher value than television in Indian sports.
The deal made IPL the second most valuable sports media property in the world on a per-match basis ($16.8 million), trailing only the NFL ($37 million per game).
But the story gets even bigger.
In November 2024, Disney merged its Indian operations with Reliance’s Viacom18 in a ₹70,352 crore deal, creating media giant JioStar. By February 2025, JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar merged into JioHotstar, unifying all IPL rights under one platform for the first time.
Here’s how IPL broadcasting rights exploded 490% in just 14 years, who paid what, and why this matters for cricket’s future.
The ₹48,390 Crore Breakdown: Who Won What
Four Packages, Three Days, 24 Companies:
The June 2022 e-auction ran for three days and attracted 24 companies. Only 14 submitted actual bids. The rights were divided into four packages covering 410 matches across five seasons (2023-2027):
Package A: India TV Rights
- Winner: Disney Star
- Amount: ₹23,575 crore ($3 billion)
- Cost Per Match: ₹57.5 crore ($7.36 million)
- Coverage: 410 matches on Star Sports network (Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali)
Disney Star retained television dominance in India, continuing their broadcast legacy from the 2018-2022 cycle. Star Sports channels broadcast across India with multiple language feeds and free-to-air matches on Star Utsav Movies.
Package B: India Digital Rights
- Winner: Viacom18
- Amount: ₹20,500 crore ($2.63 billion)
- Cost Per Match: ₹50 crore ($6.40 million)
- Coverage: 410 matches exclusively on JioCinema (now JioHotstar)
Viacom18, backed by Reliance Industries and a consortium including former Star India head Uday Shankar (Bodhi Tree) and James Murdoch (Lupa Systems), ended Disney Star’s digital monopoly.
Historical Significance: First time digital rights exceeded TV rights value in Indian sports broadcasting.
Package C: Non-Exclusive Digital Rights for Marquee Matches
- Winner: Viacom18
- Amount: ₹2,991 crore ($383 million)
- Cost Per Match: ₹33.24 crore ($4.26 million)
- Coverage: 18-22 high-profile matches per season (playoffs, finals, marquee games)
Package C allowed Viacom18 non-exclusive rights to IPL’s biggest matches, enabling them to stream key games alongside Package B.
Viacom18 Total Digital Spend: ₹23,491 crore (Package B + Package C)
Package D: International Rights (Global)
- Winners: Viacom18 and Times Internet
- Amount: ₹1,324 crore ($170 million)
- Regions: Viacom18 (Australia, South Africa, UK), Times Internet (Middle East/North Africa, USA)
- Cost Per Match: ₹3+ crore base price
Total Deal Value: ₹48,390 Crore
- Per-Match Value: ₹118 crore ($14.61 million)
- Growth vs 2018-2022 Cycle: 196% increase (2.96x)
- Previous Cycle (2018-2022): ₹16,347.5 crore ($2.55 billion)
IPL Broadcasting Rights History: From ₹8,200 Crore to ₹48,390 Crore
Cycle 1: Sony Era (2008-2017)
Rights Holder: Sony Pictures Networks India + World Sport Group
- Contract Duration: 10 years (2008-2017)
- Total Value: ₹8,200 crore ($1.03 billion)
- Per-Match Value: ₹13.67 crore ($1.5 million)
Sony Max, Sony Six, and Sony ESPN dominated IPL broadcasts for the league’s first decade. Sony Max became India’s most-watched television channel during IPL season by 2015, generating over ₹1,200 crore annually in advertising revenue.
Key Achievements:
- Established IPL as India’s premier sporting event
- Extraaa Innings T20 aftershow became cultural phenomenon
- Regional language broadcasts in 6 languages
- Free-to-air matches on Sony Max for maximum reach
Historical Context: In 2008, ₹8,200 crore was considered astronomical for a cricket league that didn’t yet exist.
Cycle 2: Star India Monopoly (2018-2022)
Rights Holder: Star India (21st Century Fox, later Disney)
- Contract Duration: 5 years (2018-2022)
- Total Value: ₹16,347.5 crore ($2.55 billion)
- Per-Match Value: ₹54.5 crore ($8.5 million)
- Growth: 158% increase vs Sony deal
On September 4, 2017, Star India shocked the industry by bidding ₹16,347.5 crore for IPL’s global broadcast and digital rights, outbidding Sony, Facebook ($600 million bid for digital only), and 12 other competitors.
Why Facebook Lost: Facebook bid $600 million for just digital rights, but Star India’s consolidated bid of $2.55 billion for all rights (TV + digital + global) was strategically superior.
Star India’s Strategy:
- Unified TV (Star Sports) and digital (Hotstar) under one roof
- Investment of $500+ million in production, technology, marketing over 5 years
- 12-language broadcasts
- Hotstar peak viewership: 18.6 million concurrent viewers (2019 final)
Financial Impact on Star India:
Star India (acquired by Walt Disney Company in 2019 for $71.3 billion) invested heavily but faced challenges:
- Media rights cost: ₹3,269.5 crore annually (4x Sony’s rate)
- FY2019: Posted ₹1,216 crore loss after Disney acquisition
- February 2023: Disney reported losing 2.4 million Disney+ subscribers globally after losing IPL digital rights
Cycle 3: The Split Era (2023-2027)
Current Rights Structure:
- Television: Disney Star (₹23,575 crore)
- Digital: Viacom18 (₹23,758 crore total including Package C)
- International: Viacom18 + Times Internet (₹1,324 crore)
- Total: ₹48,390 crore ($6.2 billion)
- Growth: 196% increase vs 2018-2022
- Per-Match Value: ₹118 crore ($14.61 million)
Match Schedule:
- 2023: 74 matches
- 2024: 74 matches
- 2025: 84 matches
- 2026: 84 matches
- 2027: 94 matches
- Total: 410 matches over 5 years
Why Digital Rights Exceeded TV Rights for First Time
While TV rights remained slightly higher nominally (₹23,575 crore), when Package C (₹2,991 crore) is added to Viacom18’s digital spend, their total digital investment (₹23,491 crore) nearly matched Star’s TV spend.
1. India’s Digital Revolution
- Mobile Internet Users: 750+ million (2022)
- Jio Disruption: Reliance Jio’s 4G revolution made data affordable
- Smartphone Penetration: 600+ million smartphones in India
Digital Consumption Surged:
- 2019 IPL: Hotstar peaked at 18.6 million concurrent viewers
- 2022 IPL: 430+ million digital viewers on Hotstar
- 2023 IPL (JioCinema free): 1.4 billion views opening weekend alone
2. Younger, Premium Demographics
Digital Viewers:
- Median age: 32-35 years
- 62% aged 18-34
- Higher income brackets
- Urban and semi-urban audiences
- Tech-savvy consumers
TV Viewers:
- Median age: 45+ years
- Broader demographic but older
- Rural penetration higher
Advertisers pay premium rates for younger digital audiences who drive purchasing decisions.
3. Interactive Advertising Opportunities
Digital platforms offer:
- Real-time targeted ads based on viewing behavior
- Shoppable ads (buy products during matches)
- Dynamic ad insertion (different ads for different viewers)
- Click-through tracking and ROI measurement
- Interactive polls, quizzes, fantasy integration
TV Limitations: One ad shown to everyone, no targeting, no direct conversion tracking
4. Multi-Device Consumption
Digital viewers watch on:
- Mobile phones (62% of consumption)
- Smart TVs/Connected TV (30%)
- Tablets (5%)
- Laptops/Desktops (3%)
Flexibility: Watch anywhere, anytime, pause/rewind, multiple camera angles
5. Lower Distribution Costs
TV Broadcasting Costs:
- Satellite uplink/downlink infrastructure
- Cable distribution payments to operators
- Set-top box dependencies
- Regional feed management
Digital Streaming Costs:
- Cloud infrastructure (scalable)
- CDN (content delivery network) fees
- Direct-to-consumer model (no intermediaries)
Viacom18’s Advantage: Owned by Reliance Industries, which operates Jio (India’s largest telecom), reducing streaming costs significantly.
The JioStar Merger: How IPL Rights Reunified
Creating India’s Streaming Giant
November 14, 2024: Disney and Reliance Industries announced ₹70,352 crore ($8.5 billion) merger combining:
- Disney’s Star India (TV + Disney+ Hotstar)
- Reliance’s Viacom18 (JioCinema + Sports18)
February 14, 2025: JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar merged to create JioHotstar
JioStar’s Combined Assets
Television Network:
- 24 Star Sports channels
- 2 channels each in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada
- 34% market share in Indian TV entertainment
- 760 million monthly TV viewers
Digital Platform (JioHotstar):
- 300 million subscribers (June 2025)
- 503 million monthly active users (March 2025)
- 320,000+ hours of content library
- Netflix comparison: 301.63 million global subscribers (December 2024)
IPL Rights Consolidation
JioStar now controls 100% of IPL broadcasting across every platform in India:
- All TV rights (Star Sports)
- All digital rights (JioHotstar)
- All international rights (Viacom18/Times partners)
IPL 2025 Financial Performance: Record-Breaking Monetization
Digital Viewership Exceeds TV for First Time
Total IPL 2025 Viewership (JioStar Report):
- Digital (JioHotstar): 652 million viewers
- Television (Star Sports): 537 million viewers
- Total Reach: 1.19 billion viewers
- Average Daily Reach: 121 million (TV) + 170 million (digital)
Digital viewership exceeded TV for first time in IPL history.
Revenue Performance:
- JioHotstar Digital Ad Revenue (IPL 2025): ₹4,500 crore ($540 million)
- Total IPL 2025 Advertising Revenue: ₹6,000-7,000 crore ($720-840 million)
- Advertisers: 425 brands (+27% vs 2024)
JioStar Q1 2025 Performance (April-June):
- Total Revenue: $1.3 billion
- Post-Tax Profit: $67.4 million (doubled YoY)
- EBITDA: $118.1 million (+31% YoY)
CEO Sanjog Gupta: “We have managed to make this IPL the most monetised edition of the event and also the most monetised sporting event ever in India.”
Subscription Model Changes
2023-2024: IPL free on JioCinema to build audience
2025: JioHotstar introduced paywall after merger
Subscription Tiers:
- ₹149 per quarter (mobile only)
- ₹299 per quarter (multi-device)
- ₹699 annual plan
Subscriber Growth:
- February 2025: 50 million paid subscribers
- May 2025: 280 million paid subscribers
- June 2025: 300 million paid subscribers (nearing Netflix’s 301.6 million global)
Critical Achievement: 100 million paid subscribers within 5 weeks of JioHotstar launch
Viewership Milestones
IPL 2025 Final (June 2025):
- Star Sports TV: 169 million viewers (most-watched cricket broadcast in TV history)
- JioHotstar Digital: 61.2 million peak concurrent viewers (all-time streaming record)
2025 Season Highs:
- 32 million concurrent viewers (digital, 2023 final record)
- 652 million total digital reach
- 47% female viewers on Star Sports
- 90% mobile consumption on JioHotstar
Why Broadcasters Pay Billions Despite Losses
The Long-Term Strategy
Star India’s Financial Reality (2018-2022):
- Paid ₹16,347.5 crore for rights
- Annual cost: ₹3,269.5 crore
- Lost ₹1,216 crore in FY2019 after Disney acquisition
- Lost 2.4 million Disney+ subscribers globally after losing digital rights (2023)
Why Continue Paying?
1. Platform Growth and Lock-In
JioHotstar Strategy:
- IPL drives subscriptions (50M to 300M in 4 months)
- Subscribers stay for entertainment content
- Monthly active users: 503 million (March 2025)
- Retention beyond IPL season creates long-term value
ROI Calculation: If 100 million JioHotstar subscribers pay ₹599 annually beyond IPL season = ₹59,900 crore revenue from entertainment, movies, shows
2. Advertising Premium
IPL Ad Rates (2025):
- TV (Star Sports): ₹20-25 lakh per 10-second spot
- CTV (Connected TV): ₹18-22 lakh per 10-second spot
- Mobile (JioHotstar): ₹15-18 lakh per 10-second spot
Marquee Matches:
- Opening ceremony: ₹30+ lakh per 10-second spot
- Finals: ₹40+ lakh per 10-second spot
- Playoffs: ₹35+ lakh per 10-second spot
25-30% YoY increase in ad rates despite market conditions
3. Brand Halo Effect
For Reliance Industries:
- Jio brand association with India’s biggest sporting event
- 425 advertiser brands partner with Jio ecosystem
- Cross-promotion for Jio Fiber, JioPhone, Jio services
- Platform for launching new products to 1.19 billion viewers
4. Data and User Insights
Digital platforms collect viewing patterns by demographics, ad engagement metrics, consumer preferences, and shopping behavior integration.
Value: Enables Reliance to refine advertising products, improve content recommendations, and target premium consumers across ecosystem
5. Competitive Moat
JioStar’s Monopoly (2023-2027):
- No competitor can bid for IPL until 2027
- 5-year head start to build subscriber base
- Locks out Amazon, Sony, Apple, Netflix from Indian sports
- Establishes market leadership impossible to dislodge
Long-term Strategy: Losses in years 1-3 acceptable if profitable by year 4-5 and sustains post-2027.
IPL vs Global Sports Media Rights: Where Does It Rank?
Per-Match Value Comparison (2024)
- NFL (USA): $37 million per game
- IPL (India): $16.8 million per match
- English Premier League (UK): $13.6 million per match
- NBA (USA): $7.5 million per game
- MLB (USA): $5.2 million per game
Total Contract Value Comparison:
- NFL (2023-2033): $111 billion over 11 years
- English Premier League (2022-2025): $13.1 billion over 3 years
- IPL (2023-2027): $6.2 billion over 5 years
- NBA (2025-2036): $76 billion over 11 years
IPL’s Unique Position:
Most Valuable Sport Outside USA: IPL surpassed English Premier League ($13.6M per match) to become world’s #2 most valuable sports property by per-match value.
Growth Trajectory: NFL grew 80% from previous cycle. IPL grew 196%. Indian market expansion potential dwarfs mature Western markets.
Population Advantage:
- India: 1.43 billion people
- USA: 340 million
- UK: 68 million
- Cricket Dominance in India: 750+ million cricket fans vs NFL’s 150 million US fans
What Happens When Current Deals Expire in 2027?
Projected Next Cycle Values
Expected 2027 Auction Projections:
Base Scenario: ₹75,000-80,000 Crore
Reasoning:
- Digital consumption will dominate 70-80% of viewership
- JioHotstar subscriber base: 500+ million projected
- Ad rates continue rising 20-25% per cycle
- International expansion (USA, Middle East markets)
Aggressive Scenario: ₹1,00,000+ Crore
Drivers:
- 10-team league stable
- 100+ matches per season by 2027 (current: 74-94)
- Connected TV adoption: 300+ million households
- Amazon, Apple, Netflix enter bidding war
Conservative Scenario: ₹60,000-65,000 Crore
Risk Factors:
- Market saturation in digital subscriptions
- Economic slowdown reducing advertising spend
- Viewer fatigue from 94-match seasons
- Competition from other cricket leagues (SA20, ILT20)
Most Likely: ₹80,000 crore ($10 billion) representing 65-70% growth, continuing historical trend of 150-200% increases per cycle.
The Bottom Line: India’s Most Powerful Content Asset
IPL broadcasting rights exploded from ₹8,200 crore (2008-2017) to ₹48,390 crore (2023-2027), a 490% increase across 14 years.
The 2022 auction split TV and digital rights for the first time, with Disney Star retaining television (₹23,575 crore) while Reliance-backed Viacom18 seized digital dominance (₹23,758 crore including marquee matches).
By November 2024, Disney and Reliance merged their Indian operations into JioStar, unifying IPL rights. The February 2025 launch of JioHotstar created India’s largest streaming platform with 300 million subscribers, nearly matching Netflix’s global count of 301.63 million.
IPL 2025 became India’s most monetized sporting event ever:
- ₹6,000-7,000 crore in advertising revenue
- 1.19 billion total viewers
- Digital viewership (652 million) exceeded television (537 million) for the first time
As the current deal expires in 2027, experts predict the next cycle could fetch ₹80,000-1,00,000 crore, cementing IPL as the world’s second most valuable sports media property behind only the NFL.
For Reliance Industries, the ₹23,758 crore investment in digital rights wasn’t about immediate profits. It was about controlling India’s most powerful content asset, building JioHotstar into a streaming giant, and establishing an unbreakable moat in Indian sports media for the next decade.
