Express News Service
CHENNAI: Three days after acquiring Indian broadcast rights for the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) cycle of events for around USD 3.125 billion, Disney Star on Tuesday sub-licensed a part of its deal to rival Zee Entertainment Enterprises. In a highly competitive market, such deals are unheard of in Indian television industry, particularly among sports networks.
The agreement between the two networks has caught the industry by surprise. For starters, both the networks had placed separate bids in Dubai last week, and Disney Star eventually secured the rights for the 2024-27 period in a deal worth around USD 3.125 billion (Rs 25,000 crore), which was significantly higher than the rest. Star is currently paying only USD 1.9 bn for the eight-year cycle that ends in 2023.
Interestingly, the ICC had allowed a provision where the winner had the rights to sub-license. While the numbers did raise eye-brows, it also showed how Disney Star was desperate to hold on to the ICC rights. After losing out on IPL digital rights to Viacom18, Disney Star’s OTT platform Hotstar is without a popular cricket content, which is why it went big for ICC rights.
Having secured the digital rights a market with huge growth potential and by giving away the TV rights to its rival Zee, Disney Star would now be able to get back part of its huge investment. As per the agreement, Zee will televise all the ICC men’s events. What role Sony Pictures Network which has already announced a merger with Zee plays remains to be seen.
According to market analysts, the deal seems pre-arranged as such an agreement can’t be reached in a short span of time. As far as Zee is concerned, it is a new beginning for them as after years of legal battles they were blacklisted by the BCCI and ICC for launching the now-defunct Indian Cricket League they have finally landed live cricket for their television.
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