Credit: ICC
India along with Sri Lanka will host the T20 World Cup next year. The marquee tournament will run from February 7 to March 8. However, ahead of the event, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has suffered a major setback after JioStar expressed its intention to withdraw as the official broadcaster for the tournament, and the subsequent commitments in the current contract. According to a report by The Economic Times, JioStar – controlled by Reliance Industries has formally informed the ICC that it cannot fulfil the remaining two years of its four-year India media-rights agreement.
The reason behind JioStar’s sudden exit is believed to be the heavy financial losses the platform has been incurring. Interestingly, the ICC has already initiated a fresh sale process for India media rights for the 2026-29 cycle, seeking around USD 2.4 billion. However, JioStar’s withdrawal has thrown ICC’s plans into disarray. JioStar more than doubled its provisions for expected losses on sports contracts in 2024-25 to ₹25,760 crore, up from ₹12,319 crore the previous year.
Another factor which has caused some dents is the Ban on real-money gaming (RMG) apps (Dream11, Mycircle, etc) has been described as a key reason after the Indian government passed the Protection and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025, with the advertising market now seeing a gap of $840 million (Rs. 7000 crore)
The 2024-27 cycle deal signed by JioStar was valued at USD 3 billion, as it included at least one major men’s cricket tournament each year. With JioStar opting out, the ICC has sent invitations to several major platforms. The development has forced the ICC to initiate a fresh bidding process for the 2026-29 cycle, seeking approximately $2.4 billion from potential buyers. According to reports by The Economic Times, the ICC has approached Sony Pictures Networks India, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video to take over the rights, but none have shown interest due to pricing concerns.
Before the T20 World Cup, the 2026 Men’s U-19 World Cup will also be held next month. The ongoing 2023-27 cycle media rights cycle also includes the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup and 2027 Men’s Cricket World Cup. So with time running out it will be interesting to see how things pan out in the coming weeks.
