New media firm acquires TV and digital rights for Indian cricket team’s home matches

Viacom18 has bagged the Indian Cricket Board’s media rights for the domestic and international matches to be played in India for the next five years. The Reliance Industries-owned firm acquired both TV and digital rights for a whopping sum of Rs. 5996.4 crores to create a monopoly in the Indian Cricket broadcasting sector after Star Sports and Sony.

Viacom will broadcast the following events: Team India home matches, IPL (digital), Women IPL, Olympics 2024, SA home matches 2024, T10 League, Road Safety World Series, SA20, NBA, Serie A, La Liga, Ligue1, and Diamond League. From September 2023 to 2028, international and domestic matches played in India will be telecast on Sports18, while they will be streamed on the JioCinemas app.

“Viacom 18 paid Rs 3101 crore (approximately) for digital and Rs 2862 crore for linear (TV). As has been the trend, digital has fetched more. With IPL digital rights being bought by Viacom for Rs 26,000 crore plus, they now have almost all the high profile cricket properties save IPL linear (TV) and major international events,” a broadcasting industry source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

A new era in Indian cricket’s broadcast journey begins with a high-profile clash between India and Australia. The Men in Yellow will tour India for a three-match ODI series starting on September 22. It will be followed by the 2023 ODI World Cup, which will be held from October 5 to November 19 across various cities in India.

Together we will continue to capture the imagination of cricket fans: Jay Shah congratulates Viacom

Indian Cricket Board Secretary Jay Shah confirmed the new broadcasters in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) and congratulated them. “Congratulations @viacom18 for winning the Media Rights for both linear and digital for the next 5 years. India Cricket will continue to grow in both spaces as after @IPL, and @wplt20, we extend the partnership Media Rights as well. Together we will continue to capture the imagination of cricket fans.”

India are set to play 88 international games across three formats including 25 Tests, 27 ODIs and 36 T20Is. According to reports, per match value of the deal stands around Rs 67.76 crore – nearly Rs 7.76 crore more than last cycle.