Billionaire Mukesh Ambani led Viacom18 emerged as the winner of the online streaming rights of the Super Bowl of Cricket on Monday. He is looking for his next fortune in a $1 billion content-streaming business. Actually, the proceeds from the digital rights to the Indian Premier League cricket, which billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Viacom18 snatched from Walt Disney & Co. for the next five years, aren’t even close to $1 billion.
Disney+ Hotstar has 50 million users and is rapidly growing. It is primarily a service for cricket-loving Indians, but it is also available in certain other Asian regions. However, the partially ad-supported app’s monthly average revenue per user is just 76 cents, putting a damper on what Disney+ makes from users who pay the full price of entertainment elsewhere.
According to media sources, the IPL has sold its streaming rights for 205 billion rupees ($2.6 billion). Starting in 2023, Viacom18 Media Pvt.,a joint venture between Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. and Paramount Global, would pay that much for 410 matches, or $6.4 million a game, over five years.
A separate $3 billion television deal for the Indian subcontinent exists, albeit it is unclear who has won it; the Financial Times thinks that Disney may have retained it, while other reports suggest Sony Group Corp. has won it. After the smaller auctions for non-exclusive digital content and overseas TV rights, which are expected to end Tuesday, an official announcement will be made. Important to note here is that Mukesh Ambani is the owner of one of the most valuable teams in IPL- Mumbai Indians.
Also Read: Asia’s Richest Man: Mukesh Ambani Reclaims The Title
