Jio Hotstar pulled out of a media rights contract involving ICC events taking place in India. It came as a shock, given that several parties were competing fiercely with regard to cricket telecasting rights. It has emerged that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma caused the pull-out. But what might be their relation to it?
India remains the favorite nation for cricket. The telecasting rights for cricket matches in India have always seen intense competition. Even international cricket matches conducted worldwide get enormous responses from India. The value for these continues to increase. Jio Hotstar bid a three-year agreement with the ICC for media rights for India at a price of $3 billion (approx. Rs. 27,000 crore). But within 18 months, Jio Hotstar opted out of that agreement. It came as a shock to the ICC.
It is presently being reported that the ICC would undertake a fresh bidding process for 2026-29. The new deal would potentially be valued at a lower amount compared with the previous agreement. The ICC forecasts that it would generate $2.4 billion (almost Rs. 21,600 crore) of revenue in the next period. It is suggested that the ICC would have acted based on the fact that Rohit and Kohli have retired from Test and T20 cricket.
Effect Of Kohli And Rohit’s Retirement
- Rohit and Kohli have retired from short-format cricket after India achieved victory at the T20 World Cup. It may be noted that there were enormous numbers of people watching them at the event. After that, there were victories at the Indian T20 tournament, but there were fewer enthusiasts. The stadiums are still packed, but there is less excitement without Rohit and Kohli.
- Both these players have retired from Test matches as well. Fans were very eager to watch Test matches to see these two play. But after they retired, it can be noticed that there have been fewer people attending Test matches. There were less than 1,000 people watching matches at stadiums during the series against the West Indies. Also, there were fewer TV views even when match tickets were made less expensive.
Revenue Issues at Jio Hotstar
- The T20 World Cup will be hosted by India in February and March. It is considered that the retirees, Kohli and Rohit, have had an impact on Jio Hotstar’s pullout from the media rights deal. The online platform incurs heavy expenses for acquiring ICC media rights. The projected revenue from match broadcast may not be enough.
- At present, Kohli and Rohit play only ODIs. Also, it still garners a considerable amount of viewing and advertising revenue. Had they participated in the T20 World Cup in India, it would have fetched more revenue. It is predicted that advertising and viewing revenues for the remaining tournament would not be as expected without them. Jio Hotstar pulled out of the deal due to a possible loss. This scenario leads to demands for Kohli and Rohit to remain in the Indian cricket team and participate in the 2027 ODI World Cup. However, if they opt for early retirement, there could be fewer cricket enthusiasts and less eagerness among people to watch the tournament.
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