End of Star’s monopoly in Indian Cricket?

The very moment Uday Shankar decided to step down from his position as the president of the Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and chairman of Star India and The Walt Disney Company India, last year, it was supposed to be the end of Star India’s monopoly in Indian Cricket space. With the IPL media rights up for grabs within a year of his stepping down, rumors floated if he was up to something that might disrupt the cricketing ecosystem and in turn bring down the biggest player in the space which he helped build from scratch.

As it turned out, it was indeed the part of a bigger plan from the man who not just defined cricket broadcasting in India, but also played a huge role in shaping the sport the way we know it now. And now his next course of action - him and media baron James Murdoch picking up a 39% stake in Viacom18 - can have a huge ripple effect on how the sport would mold itself in the next decade or so.

Even though Viacom18 was backed by the Reliance group, the lack of a proper strategic partner had been a cause of concern for them, and with the focus mostly on the news business, it was even difficult to have a positive move on in the sports business. Working capital was definitely another concern. Uday Shankar and James Murdoch come to ease that concern with their unparalleled understanding of the market in a year the IPL and World Cup rights are up for grabs. Mind you, it is that understanding which made Murdoch sell 21st Century Fox to the Walt Disney Company in 2019 in a deal valued at US$71.3b before taking fresh positions with Lupa Systems.

For the uninitiated, Sports18 has already secured the rights to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, NBA, La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A, Abu Dhabi T10, and many ATP and BWF events but lacks that one sparkling thing that can give them the edge over the competitors in the Indian market. If they go all-out for the IPL rights, it would provide them that edge to latch onto public imagination.

"We are pleased to launch a dedicated sports channel for an audience across demographics and geographies. Sports18 will strive to be India's most-coveted broadcast network by providing fans easy access to a comprehensive bouquet of international and premier sports content," Viacom18 Sports CEO Anil Jayaraj said, indicating the bigger ambitions at play for them.

According to Money Control, Disney+ Hotstar has a market share of 18 percent in the advertising video-on-demand (AVOD) segment and a 26.3 percent market share in the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) space. On the other hand, Voot has a 2.2 percent market share in the AVOD space, and a step-up is needed for their own good. 

Cricket.com understands that Sports18 has started to go big on hiring already, and a lot of people from both Star Sports and Sony India Pvt. Ltd have joined the conglomerate recently. The plan has been in place and a strategy is out there to take on the pool-based right panel one by one - with the BCCI devising the India subcontinent TV rights, India subcontinent digital rights (exclusive and non-exclusive), non-exclusive digital rights (18 matches), and the rest of the world in a different order to maximize on the cost output. But the primary focus will be on the first couple of sets in order to have a moat in the Indian market.

While for Star India and Sony Sports India Pvt. Ltd, the matter is mostly about generating broadcasting revenues and thus increasing the EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization), Viacom18 have a broader ambition at play. With Reliance aiming to expand its base in the telecom and e-retail space, sports broadcasting will be an add-on to fuel that dream.

Surely there is a question of American Giants like Amazon and Apple usurping them from a potential takeover or Star India making a re-entry to own back the rights. Given Star India have lost the complete stronghold in the GEC space in India, cricket remains one of the biggest incentives for them to dominate the Indian market and it would be outlandish to imagine them sitting idle on this. 

No question asked, we have a game in our hands and a couple of days of complete madness to usher in even after the ongoing season of IPL is over. So fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the money-minting machine that is the IPL.