As it restructures its streaming plans, cricket continues to be the big bet for Disney

Just weeks after it lost the streaming rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to Viacom 18 in June, which led Disney to lower its subscriber target for its Disney+ Hotstar service in India, it has now outbid the opposition to win all rights of the Dubai-based International Cricket Council (ICC).

Disney Star will be the home of all ICC cricket in India for the next four years, having won both the TV and digital rights to both men’s and women’s global events through to the end of 2027.

Adding a new twist to its business plans, Disney Star has now sub-licensed the TV component to ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEE) for an undisclosed amount on Tuesday. Zee was the company it outbid in the auction.

In a joint statement, the two companies said: “Disney Star will continue to be the exclusive home for streaming of all ICC tournaments through its digital platform – Disney+ Hotstar. ICC has in-principle approved this arrangement.”

Anurag Dahiya, ICC’s Chief Commercial Officer, when asked if the global governing body would have any issues with the arrangement, said: “Zee were one of the bidders themselves and if they were the highest bidders, we would have awarded the rights to them. The first round was about eligibility and us being ok with their exploitation plans and they have already crossed that hurdle.”

Zee recently acquired rights of the UAE T20 league, which starts next January. The ICC rights will mark their return to big-ticket cricket after their spat with the Indian governing body in late 2000s for starting the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL).

ICC had said that the new deal with Disney Star, which followed a single-round sealed bid process, yielded “a significant uplift” to the rights fee from the previous cycle. While both ICC and Disney did not disclose the financial term, Economic Times reported the value of the new deal to be in the region of $3 billion (AED11.1 billion).

ICC Chair Greg Barclay said: “We are delighted to continue to partner with Disney Star as the home of ICC cricket for the next four years which has delivered an outstanding result for our members and will support our ambitious growth plans. They will play a crucial role in the future of our sport and connecting and engaging with more fans than ever before.

“Having a broadcast and digital partner for women’s events in India is a significant step forward in our ambition to accelerate the growth of the women’s game. Disney Star presented impressive plans for the promotion of women’s cricket and they clearly share our vision so I’m incredibly excited by the size of the opportunity ahead.

“This was an incredibly competitive process, which isn’t surprising given the huge audiences that cricket consistently attracts with more than a billion fans that passionately follow the game globally. I’d like to thank all of the bidders for their interest in and support of cricket.”

The 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup was the most engaged-with women’s event in the sport’s history with 1.64 billion total views across the ICCs channels.

K Madhavan, Country Manager & President, Disney Star said: “We are delighted at being able to continue our association with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and look forward to strengthening our partnership by growing the sport of cricket in the years ahead.

“With the acquisition of the ICC Digital and TV broadcast rights, Disney Star has further strengthened its status as the premier destination for marquee cricket events in the country.”

For the popular IPL, Viacom18 won the streaming rights for $2.6 billion (AED9.54 billion), while Disney retained the TV rights for $3 billion (AED11.1 billion).

Star, which was owned by Fox earlier, had won the last cycle of worldwide ICC rights for $2.1 billion over eight years. The new deal includes both men’s and women’s events including the 2024 men’s and women’s T20 World Cups.

Disney had disclosed new guidance in July during the company’s fiscal third quarter earnings conference call. It started to offer subscriber updates and target predictions for Disney+ Hotstar separately from Disney+ because Disney+ Hotstar service included sports rights and other content not found on Disney+ in other territories.

During the conference call, Disney adjusted its global subscriber target for Disney+ in total to around 215 to 245 million global subscribers by the end of September 2024. The company had earlier forecast the numbers to be in the range of 230 to 260 million.