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Just two months ahead of International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup, the game's governing body is in a tight spot when it comes to broadcasting rights as JioStar has reportedly told the game's governing body that it cannot fulfil the remaining two years of its four-year India media rights agreement.
According to a report in Economic Times, the Reliance Industries-controlled broadcaster has cited mounting financial losses as the primary reason for not able to commit to its $3 billion deal which runs till 2027.
The broadcaster's audited standalone accounts reveal that provisions for anticipated losses on sports-content deals surged from Rs 12,319 crore to Rs 25,760 crore in one financial year.
The ICC T20 World Cup to be co-hosted by India and Pakistan will begin on February 27.
The media report further adds that following JioStar’s notice, the ICC has restarted the sale of media rights in India for the 2026–29 cycle, seeking $2.4 billion.
Sony Pictures Networks India, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video are said to the frontrunners in case JioStar backs out, though none of them have expressed their interest openly due to the huge stakes involved.
It had acquired the $3 billion ICC media rights for the 2024 to 2027 cycle, but heavy losses incurred from the 2024 T20 World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy, have forced the broadcaster to to have rethink on honouring their three-year term.
It is presumed that JioStar's financial difficulties took a beating after the Indian government's ban on real-money gaming, which had been the single largest advertiser in the sport.
JioStar is currently showing the India vs South Africa series live. South Africa blanked India in two-match Test series while the hosts pulled it back 2-1 in the three ODIs that followed.
The five-match T20 series starts in Cuttack on Tuesday (December 9).
(With inputs from agencies)