The Australian summers are shifting back to Disney Star after their absence since 2018. The agreement between Cricket Australia and Disney Star will allow Disney Star to broadcast all International men’s and women’s cricket, the BBL and the WBBL across India and Asia from the 2023-24 season.
This deal comes on the heels of concluded IPL media auction where Disney Star retained the broadcast rights at INR 23,575 crores for the Indian subcontinent. However, they failed to keep digital streaming rights in-house. To compensate for the loss of the premium property, the television giant has gone for the next best option by acquiring Cricket Australia’s rights to offset the cricketing output on the streamer Disney+ Hotstar.
As per the recently announced FTP, India will play a five-test match Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the 2024-25 season for the first time in over two decades. The media rights deal will give access to that series besides the highly regarded Ashes. The other component in the agreement, the BBL is set to have an increase in value as all the Australian stars will be participating in the league and no Australian international cricket is scheduled during the BBL window according to a report by ESPNCricinfo.
Cricket Australia represents some of the best content that the world of cricket has to offer, be it the standard of cricket played, the popularity of Aussie Cricketers, the rivalries and narratives or the context of playing in front of expressive crowds and in tough conditions. Disney Star has been delighting millions of Indian fans by showcasing marquee cricket across our linear and digital platforms. Some of the most memorable moments for Indian fans have been produced in Australia and we look forward to elevating many more such moments with our unique brand of story-telling, programming, local activations and tech-enabled experiences in association with Cricket.
Sanjog Gupta, Disney Star’s Head of Sports
ICC has already invited an ITT for a media rights auction and is set to announce the Indian subcontinent media rights holder in early September. BCCI and ECB’s media rights for the Indian market are also set to expire at the end of their next home seasons respectively. They are the following prominent properties coming to market to woo the broadcasters.
Hopefully, they use the Ashes library to fill the hours instead of showing IPL highlights all day long. Star is blessed with gems like F1, Wimbledon, Premier League, ICC and ONE rights. But doesn’t know how to use the library specially on their regional channels.