ICC may have to reduce media rights value as firms focus on profitability

JioStar's exit pressure and RMG ad ban push ICC to revalue rights as T20 World Cup 2026 nears.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) may have to reduce its media rights value within India as broadcasters and streaming platforms remain cautious of large investments and focus on profitability, according to industry experts.

 

They said JioStar’s reasoning for exiting the current contract with ICC is the financial burden it has from the deal while the company has already kept a huge amount under provisions for expected losses from such engagements. The company had more than doubled its provisions for expected losses from onerous sports contracts in the 2024-2025 period to ₹25,760 crore, according to a media report.

 

While JioStar is obliged to continue its current contract with ICC till 2027, industry experts noted that India’s largest media conglomerate will look to negotiate the deal value or test if the ICC reduces the media rights value for other players in the industry. ICC did not respond to the email sent by Business Standard on whether the cricket body has reached out to other broadcasters for media rights starting from next year. Meanwhile, a person aware of the development said that JioStar is bound by the agreement, and that the company intends to continue its contract with ICC for the remaining years.

 

Santosh N, managing partner, D&P Advisory, said that they had expected this to happen as JioStar is working on reducing its losses from all aspects.

 

“No other serious contenders in India match these rights at the current values. ICC will have to significantly reduce its media rights deal it is currently offering. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) is not a contender because it defaulted on the linear rights earlier. Sony’s (Sony Pictures Network India’s) seriousness about the Indian market is unclear, and they may face business challenges due to limited content, advertisers demanding discounts, and subscribers not sticking after one event. Any broadcaster would need a series of sports content, not just one-off tournaments, for thinking about this media rights,” Santosh added.

 

JioStar’s existing media rights value with ICC is said to be about $3 billion, and according to a media report, the cricket council has reduced the media rights deal to around $2 billion. This also comes after the government banned real money gaming (RMG), which was a major advertiser in the sports segment, besides spending heavily on sponsorships too. In the Indian Premier League (IPL), the ban on RMG has removed ₹1,500 crore to ₹2,000 crore of annual spend from the ecosystem, leaving a visible void across broadcaster revenues, franchise partnerships, and fan-engagement activations, according to a recent report by D&P Advisory. The impact on ICC matches is expected to be more.

 

"Even if SPNI, Amazon, or Netflix show interest, valuation is the most critical question. If JioStar is not interested even at a lower value, it may not make sense for other players unless it is at a significantly lower value,” Santosh noted, adding that this will put tremendous pressure on ICC to close a deal in less than a month before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 starts in February.

 

Echoing the views of Santosh, another person, on the condition of anonymity, highlighted that JioHotstar knows that the ICC will consider the impact of the RMG ban in India and may try to push the deal value down for the upcoming media rights cycles starting from 2028. On the other hand, Netflix's acquisition of Warner Bros’ film and TV studio may throw up a potential bidder for ICC cricket.

 

“It looks like JioStar is under financial pressure and hence wants a better deal, while the company might be testing out SPNI or Netflix to see if ICC will further lower the media rights value,” the person added.

 

For the second quarter (July-September) of 2025-26 (Q2FY26), the Reliance Industries-backed company reported a rise of 127.5 per cent in its net profit to ₹1,322 crore on a sequential basis. However, its revenue from operations dropped 35.6 per cent sequentially to ₹6,179 crore — the company said the comparison is not relevant due to the presence of IPL in Q1FY26.