Why Sony handing over India-England cricket digital rights to JioStar is a win-win deal
In a move that would've raised eyebrows not so long ago, media rivals Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) and JioStar have teamed up to share the broadcast rights to India's cricket tours in England in 2025 and 2026. While Sony retains the television rights, JioHotstar will exclusively stream all matches online, starting with the five-Test series from June 20.
The deal reflects the stand of both companies today and where the business of cricket broadcasting is headed.
SPNI secured the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) rights in 2023 for eight years during a phase when broadcasters were aggressively locking in international boards. DisneyStar had picked up the TV rights to the Indian Premier League, the International Cricket Council (ICC) rights and Cricket Australia, while Viacom18 signed on Cricket South Africa and the digital rights of the IPL.
The bidding war came just before OTT monetisation challenges, rising rights fees, uncertain ad yields and market realities caught up with the broadcasters, forcing a rethink.
Since then, Sony's digital focus has leaned toward strengthening SonyLiv's reputation as a home for premium original content. It hasn't chased live sports as aggressively as its rivals.
Also Read | How IPL's soaring valuation fuels Indian cricket board's growing revenue
SonyLiv's success with shows such as Scam 1992, Maharani and Rocket Boys has helped build a distinctive identity, but cricket streaming requires a different scale of technology, bandwidth, and investment. In that context, subletting the digital rights of the India-England series to JioStar makes business sense.
JioStar is better placed to monetise the property in today's fragmented media environment. The platform has built a massive reach through IPL by combining Disney+ Hotstar's paid subscriber base with JioCinema, and has already established user habits around cricket streaming.
For Sony, the deal helps de-risk a potentially overvalued property. While the financial terms haven't been disclosed, industry insiders said the ECB rights were picked up at a premium. By retaining TV and offloading digital, Sony safeguards its distribution revenue via cable and DTH and avoids pouring resources into digital marketing or tech for a one-off series.
Post-IPL gap
There's also a timing factor. The India-England Test series arrives right after IPL, without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the Test squad, and advertisers are already showing signs of fatigue in the current market. Driving advertising sales around the tour would've been a tall order. JioStar, with its recent IPL momentum, is better positioned to carry that forward.
From JioStar's perspective, the move fills the post-IPL gap. There's no India cricket on its calendar otherwise and the England tour offers continuity for viewers and advertisers alike. It also helps retain subscribers acquired during the IPL window.
Also Read | India's sports economy inches closer to $2 billion as endorsements, emerging sports fuel growth
This isn't the first time broadcasters have split TV and digital rights. Disney Star and ZEE had earlier tried a similar arrangement for ICC events. ZEE was to take TV while Disney retained digital. That deal fell through when the Sony-ZEE merger collapsed and ZEE couldn't make the payments.
But the principle of playing to one's strengths is increasingly relevant in the sports rights business. The question now is whether this marks a broader strategic shift for Sony. Is this a one-off move to monetise a tricky asset or a signal that the network is retreating from digital sports altogether?
Digital home
For now, it appears tactical. But as streaming becomes central to how cricket is consumed, the gap between SonyLiv's entertainment positioning and the demands of live sports will only widen, unless the company makes a decisive move.
Meanwhile, JioStar continues to entrench itself as the digital home for Indian cricket. Whether through direct rights or smart partnerships, it is building a platform where the fan journey doesn't pause between tournaments.
Also Read | Gen Z wants more than just cricket from sports entertainment, looks for authentic athlete engagement
At its core, this is a deal born out of business logic, not emotion. The viewer doesn't care who owns the rights, they care about access. The platform wants monetisation. The rights holder wants to avoid losses. And if that means former rivals shaking hands, so be it.
In a rights market defined increasingly by scale, cost discipline, and collaboration, Sony and JioStar may have just shown everyone what grown-up cricket broadcasting looks like.
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