No More Free IPL Games: Ambani To Introduce Streaming Charges

NEW DELHI – The Reliance-Disney joint venture will no longer offer completely free streaming for IPL cricket matches and will adopt a hybrid model where subscription kicks in after content consumption reaches a threshold, sources told Reuters on February 13. They will also launch a new rebranded streaming app.

The decision to change the terms of streaming the Indian Premier League (IPL), the world’s richest cricket league, comes after Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance and Walt Disney combined their India media assets in an $8.5 billion merger last year.

Reliance controls the joint venture.

JioCinema has allowed free IPL streaming since securing the rights for the popular tournament for five years, beginning in 2023 for $3 billion. JioCinema had the rights to IPL cricket, a money-spinner and among the most-streamed content, as well as to the Winter Olympics and Indian Super League football. Disney’s Hotstar app had the rights to the International Cricket Council’s tournaments in India and English Premier League soccer.

Now, all streaming content, including IPL, will shift to a hybrid model where free viewing will be offered for a while, and then users will need to take subscriptions depending on their consumption patterns, said two of the sources with direct knowledge, Reuters said.

The Reliance-Disney venture runs more than 100 TV channels and streaming apps in India’s $28-billion media and entertainment market, where it also competes with Netflix and Amazon Prime, among others.