Walt Disney will pay $3 billion to retain the rights to broadcast cricket’s popular Indian Premier League on its Star India television network, although it lost streaming rights The competition’s regulatory body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, asked on Tuesday to take on Viacom18.
Watched closely, the multi-day auction generated $6.2 billion for the league’s organizers, nearly three times the rights that were last sold at auction in 2017. The winning bid for the streaming rights from Viacom18 is a joint venture between the two. Paramount Global Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani‘s Reliance Industries and another, $2.6 billion, the cricket board said. In addition, Viacom18 will pay an additional $493 million for assorted other licenses, including the rights to broadcast matches internationally and a limited-game package.