Disney Star is expanding its cricket portfolio once again.
The pay-TV network has acquired Indian TV and digital rights to global events conducted by the International Cricket Council from 2024 through 2027.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the ICC claimed it “yielded a significant uplift to the rights fee from the previous cycle.”
- Star won the last cycle of rights for $2.1 billion over eight years, but that included worldwide rights.
- At the time of the deal, Star was owned by Fox.
The new deal includes both men’s and women’s events including the 2024 men’s and women’s T20 World Cups. 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.
“Disney Star presented impressive plans for the promotion of women’s cricket, and they clearly share our vision,” ICC chair Greg Barclay said.
Viacom, Zee, and Sony also reportedly bid for the rights.
Star-Studded Sport
In July, Disney Star acquired media rights for Cricket Australia as part of a seven-year, $250 million deal. It extended its domestic TV rights deal with the Indian Premier League in June for $3 billion but wasn’t able to hold on to global streaming rights for the IPL after Viacom18 struck a $2.6 billion deal.
Disney Star also has media rights to the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Cricket South Africa.
Cricket is estimated to have more than 2.5 billion fans globally.
