When JioStar gathered its partners and the Tamil Nadu administration in Chennai this week to unveil a Rs 4,000-crore commitment to the southern creative economy, the optics were deliberate.
Interestingly, the announcement landed barely 48 hours after reports surged online that the company had notified the International Cricket Council (ICC) that it could no longer service the remaining two years of its four-year India media-rights contract, a deal valued at roughly $3 billion. Financialexpress.com reached out to JioStar for the same, but they declined to comment.
The Reliance–Disney venture has promised a 25-title regional slate, new writing labs, VFX training centres, and a content pipeline aimed squarely at the fastest-growing entertainment market in the country.
The cricket economics
JioStar’s speculated decision to unfollow IPL rights comes after losses on sports contracts more than doubled in FY25 to Rs 25,760 crore, from Rs 12,319 crore the previous year, as per the financial reports. The burden stems almost entirely from the ICC package inherited from Star India, priced at $3 bn, which itself posted a Rs 12,548 crore standalone loss in FY24, driven by the same contract.
The costs have only risen as payments are dollar-denominated. With the rupee past 90 to the dollar, JioStar’s ICC burden has already climbed from $3 billion to an effective $3.3 billion. Another important thing to note here is that when Jio inherited the deal from Star, the second-highest bid was made by Sony for $1.6 billion, almost half of the bid that was finalised. The company might have put itself in a hole with a bid that high.
Furthermore, sources told Financial Express that JioStar wants the transaction value of the broadcast properties to be reduced to $2 billion to $2.1 billion over the cycle of 2026-29. For the same period, the ICC is said to be seeking $2.4 billion.
Adding to that, the IPL valuations have also fallen drastically. As per a report by Brand Finance, IPL’s brand value fell from $12 billion in 2024 to $9.6 billion in 2025. Another report by Financial Express said that cricket contributes approximately 85% of the total sports advertising revenue of around Rs 16,633 crore in 2024.
“Cricket has been overpriced in India for the last five, ten years. Until a price correction happens, this will keep happening,” Vanita Kohli-Khandekar, media specialist and columnist, told financialexpress.com. She further explained in one of her columns how IPL has been hyped so much solely because of it being compared to the American National Football League, which is one of the world’s most expensive sports properties.
However, the NFL operated in a market that is almost 36 times bigger than the entire Indian media and entertainment space, she added. “That is why the economics of the IPL make no sense. Add in the production, distribution and marketing costs and the last IPL, for which Disney paid over ~16,000 crore for TV and digital rights, scraped through with a small profit,” Kohli-Khandekar explained in the column.
The post–fantasy gaming vacuum
Fantasy gaming platforms, Dream11, My11Circle and others, were the single largest advertiser segment during major tournaments. Their abrupt exit after India banned real-money gaming removed an estimated Rs 7,000-crore advertising pool almost overnight.
The demand correction has hit broadcasters harder than the ICC itself. The council posted a $474-million surplus in 2024; meanwhile, the broadcaster funding the ecosystem is bleeding.
How much money is ICC making?
As per the consolidated financial reports, ICC made a net surplus of $474 million by 31 December 2024. There is a clear dip in the money as they had a net surplus of $596 million in the financial year ending in 2023.
Furthermore, a Nielsen report mentioned how cricket’s popularity among the Indian youth between 18 to 30 years has dropped between 2019 and 2025 as more people are looking at motorsport, basketball and MMA.
So why is JioStar doubling down on the South?
For one, the economics are clearer. JioStar says that South India’s entertainment market is expanding at a pace unmatched elsewhere in the country, especially on connected TVs, where nearly half of JioStar’s southern audience now watches. Regional advertisers are growing at 50–60% annually, offering a revenue stream that cricket cannot match today.
Adding to that, an Ormax report stated that South Indian cinema reported a revenue collection of Rs 5,646 crore in 2024, which is 20.67% higher than Hindi cinema.
“South Indian content has done exceptionally well, in some cases better than Bollywood, and its appeal now extends beyond the four southern states,” Ashish Bhasin, Founder, The Bhasin Consulting Group and former APAC CEO of Dentsu, told financialexpress.com. “For a broadcaster, securing strong South content is a sound bet. It drives viewership, and through dubbing and language extensions, it travels across the country.”
The creative infrastructure also allows for scalable, repeatable programming at far lower risk. JioStar plans 1,500 hours of new South programming in the next year, from long-format series and films to unscripted formats like Bigg Boss.
As the OTT competition intensifies, Sony Liv also announced its plan to lean into South Indian content and planning to launch 11 originals in the South.
Why the two moves are not contradictory
Analysts stress that JioStar’s cricket rethink should not be interpreted as abandonment.
“Cricket will always be a high-interest, high-value property. No large broadcaster will ever say they’re off cricket,” Bhasin said. “But nobody does business for charity. You pay only what the economy allows. This is likely a question of getting the rights at the right price, not walking away from the sport.”
Kohli-Khandekar agrees that the two verticals, sports and entertainment, operate on separate P&Ls. “Sports is a different business entirely. Entertainment is a different business. They can continue both; Reliance has the money. The issue is not capital. The issue is the ability to make money on cricket at current prices.”
What this means for the ICC
The ICC is now in an uncomfortable position. India accounts for nearly 80% of its global revenue, but early outreach to Sony, Netflix and Amazon has yielded little. Platforms are hesitant to touch expensive rights in a market where nobody watches linear TV, streaming still runs at a loss, and advertising has taken a hit from all the RMG fiasco.
If no alternative bidder emerges, JioStar will be obligated to honour the contract through 2027, effectively trapping both broadcaster and rights holder in an arrangement neither finds tenable.
The pivot signals a broader correction across Indian sports broadcasting: the era of rights inflation may finally be hitting a ceiling. And as Kohli-Khandekar put it bluntly, “At some point, the budget has to be capped. You cannot endlessly expect the market to deliver.”
JioStar, more than any other player, is now acting on that truth.