There is never a dull moment with Sanjog Gupta, sports media veteran and the newly appointed CEO of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He is clear, articulate and brutally honest, studying the pulse of the consumer to understand broadcasting and media trends. ICC will be counting on the 44-year-old’s sharp insights to help the body navigate the world of cricket, which is changing fast.
Attention spans are getting shorter, the need for entertainment is growing, prompting a shift away from longer formats to shorter-duration games such as T20 cricket. Gupta, who was earlier the CEO for sports and live experiences at broadcaster JioStar, has admitted in conversations that the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has set the tone for T20 cricket not just in India, but across the world. The formation of T20 leagues on the lines of the IPL in the last few years, he says, is proof of that. JioStar has the TV and digital media rights of the IPL.
But while life as a media executive placed Gupta at the forefront of TV and digital broadcasting, where his responsibilities revolved largely around viewership, monetisation and programming of media assets owned by his former company, experts say, his appointment as the head of a cricketing body such as the ICC will place before him unique challenges. The most important being governance. Besides that, Gupta has the task of pushing much more than he did earlier such as driving women’s cricket and managing the inclusion of the sport into the Olympics in 2028. On Monday, he admitted that the rapid acceleration of technology in sports broadcasting was changing the nature and pace of the game. New viewers were coming on board across multiple platforms, demanding more engagement. This was both an exciting and challenging moment for cricket, he said, adding that the sport was set for unprecedented growth in the future.
The former journalist-turned-broadcaster-turned cricket-body head is also the second Indian after media veteran Manu Sawhney to be appointed the chief executive of the ICC, something he is acutely aware of, given that the Indian sub-continent contributes to the lion’s share of advertising and broadcasting money to ICC. JioStar, for instance, holds rights in India to all major ICC events and tournaments through 2027, through a tie-up struck (by Star) three years ago. It remains one of ICC’s foremost media partners. While his 14-year association with Star, which turned into JioStar after the merger with Viacom18 in November 2024, is expected to help ICC manage an important media partner, as the CEO of ICC, he will have the onerous task of handling various cricket boards and broadcasters from across the globe. ICC is also looking to expand internationally and introduce cricket to more nations.
In his previous role as the sports head at JioStar, Gupta stayed focused on what he described as the 4 Is — inclusivity, intuitive user experiences, interactivity and immersion. The result was that the IPL 2025 emerged as the most monetised edition ever, Gupta said at the APOS media summit, in Bali, Indonesia, last month. Industry sources said that advertising revenue of the IPL 2025 touched nearly Rs 5,000 crore, surpassing last year’s Rs 4,500 crore.
IPL 2025 also had many other firsts including digital viewership at 652 million crossing the 537 million viewers on television. There were also over 425 brands, including 270 first-time advertisers across 40 categories partnering with JioStar.
In his early years as a journalist, Gupta would be curious about trending news topics, former colleagues and friends said, where he frequently doubled up as anchor, correspondent and assistant producer churning out news shows at TV Today. Starting off as a correspondent covering business affairs at The Tribune in 2002, Gupta would go on to work with channels such as Star News and NDTV besides TV Today. By 2010, Gupta had moved to the business side of media, taking over as associate vice-president at Star TV network. His boundless energy and curiosity would come in handly as he negotiated English and Hindi programming, general entertainment and movies at the network, before becoming CEO of sports at Star. His love for sports programming would see him stick on as a sports broadcaster for the next five years.
Life has come a full circle now for Gupta.