Disney Star retains the ICC media rights through 2027

Disney Star has emerged victorious at the ICC Media Rights auctions for the Indian market. The broadcaster has won exclusive broadcast and streaming rights for all the ICC men’s and women’s tournaments through 2027. ICC had decided to award the rights to Disney Star after the single round of closed bidding, which started earlier this year.

The broadcaster added IPL television rights and Cricket Australia’s exclusive rights earlier this year. The addition of the ICC tournaments will ensure that the broadcaster will remain the premium cricketing home in India through 2027 at the very least.

The Walt Disney Company can breathe easily as they have secured the digital rights for the ICC tournaments having lost the IPL digital rights earlier. The company had to downgrade the Disney+ Hotstar’s subscribers projection numbers by 15 million earlier this month. This victory can ensure the platform’s subscriber growth as there will be an ICC Men’s tournament every year from now on.

“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”, said ICC Chair Greg Barclay.

“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”, he added.

“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”, said K Madhavan, President, Disney Star.

The events included are the Women’s T20 World Cup Bangladesh 2024, the Women’s ODI World Cup India 2025, the Women’s T20 World Cup England 2026 and the Women’s Champions Trophy Sri Lanka 2027 consisting of 103 matches. The men’s tournaments are the T20 World Cup 2024, the Champions Trophy 2025, the T20 World Cup 2026 and the ODI World Cup 2027. The media rights will also include the ICC U19 tournaments played in the period.