Mumbai: Tensions have emerged between the International Cricket Council (ICC) and its media rights holder in India, Star India, the local unit of The Walt Disney Co., over the latter’s $3 billion media rights deal for the period 2024-27.
Star India has sent a stern letter to cricket’s world governing body seeking to renegotiate the deal after suffering significant losses in advertising revenue during the recently concluded T20 World Cupsaid two people familiar with the matter.
The Sydney Morning Herald He was the first to report that Star has pushed for a renegotiation.
India lifted the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which was held in the US and West Indies to promote cricket in new geographies; however, many advertisers skipped the event as fewer Indians were likely to watch these matches due to inconvenient timings, which was a setback for Star. Erratic weather worsened the situation as several games, including an India match, were either cancelled or truncated, leading to further loss of advertising revenue.
Despite these challenges, an official familiar with the matter said the agreement between the ICC and Star India is ironclad and does not include any renegotiation or exit provisions.
“A few weeks after the World Cup ended, the ICC received a letter from Star India demanding a renegotiation. However, the agreement does not include any clause or option to alter the value of the deal. The ICC’s future touring schedule was announced well in advance and everyone knew that the first T20 World Cup would be played in the US. Like the 2026 T20 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, there were no surprises here, so it is not reasonable to protest now,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
When contacted by Mint, an ICC spokesperson said: “We do not comment on commercial deals.” A spokesperson for Star India also declined to comment.
Mint It was previously reported that Indian star had generated little more than ₹1.2 billion rupees in advertising revenue from the T20 World Cup, compared to its payout of nearly $500 million ( ₹4.2 billion rupees).
After winning the tender in August 2022, Star India had sub-licensed the television rights for the men’s tournaments to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd for nearly $1.4 billion. However, after Zee backed out, Star terminated the deal accusing it of breach of contract and initiated arbitration proceedings at the Court of International Arbitration in London.
As this legal dispute continues, Star India’s parent company Walt Disney has agreed to merge its India unit with Reliance Industries-owned Viacom18. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is currently reviewing the $8.5 billion merger.
“Star India’s effort is futile,” said a second person familiar with the matter. “It may generate headlines, but the fact is there is little they can do. The rights were acquired through an auction process and Star made the offer with full knowledge of the terms. Walking out of the contract is not an option.”
The rights include men’s and women’s T20 World Cups, a Champions Trophy, as well as at least one men’s World Test Championship.
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