Premier League is Looking for Indian Media Rights Partners

The Premier League, the top club football league in England, is looking for media rights partners for the Indian market because its current three-year agreement with Star India is about to expire with the 2024–25 season and the broadcaster has not expressed any interest in extending the deal.

For more than 20 years, the Premier League has partnered with Star India, which owns and runs the Star Sports network and the Disney+ Hotstar streaming service.

The Premier League has contacted other market participants, such as Sony Pictures Networks India, Warner Bros. Discovery's Eurosport, and Dream Sports-owned FanCode, to inquire their price offers due to the non-renewal of the contract.

According to a sports business specialist, Star India had already obtained the rights through renewals. According to insiders, Star and Sony are presently concentrating on obtaining the Asian Cricket Council media rights, even though the Premier League has started the process of selling media rights.

"It appears that the renewal with Star didn't work out, so the Premier League is looking to sell the media rights. Even if someone doesn't want to watch every match, they are willing to provide a variety of packages and have contacted several players, according to a sports broadcasting executive.

Due to low TV viewership, difficulties with monetisation, and a lack of interest from rival broadcasters, the value of Premier League media rights has steadily decreased over the years, from a record $145 million (2013–14 to 2015–16) to $100 million (2016–17 to 2018–19), $81 million (2019–20 to 2021–22), and now $60 million (2022–23 to 2024–25), according to a sports media rights expert.

"With a sizable fan base in India, the Premier League is undoubtedly one of the most sought-after athletic events. This popularity is only growing because to the steady growth of digital platforms like Disney+ Hotstar and Jio Cinema. Rajesh Sethi, a former CEO of Ten Sports and senior advisor for media and entertainment at PwC, stated that it is still difficult to monetize the content rights price for many of these expensive businesses. "It's a great sporting property to expand your viewership base but at the right price point," he stated.

The merger of Star and Viacom18 is nearing completion. With Disney owning a sizable minority position, Reliance will control the combined company, Star India, which will own all of the Star and Viacom18 properties.

With cricket properties like the Indian Premier League, International Cricket Council, Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia, and Cricket South Africa, the combined organization already has a significant footprint in the sports world.