Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) has agreed a cricket rights broadcast deal stretching eight years with the Asian Cricket Council.
The deal encompasses all editions of the Men’s and Women’s Asia Cups, Men’s and Women’s Under-19 Asia Cups, and the Men’s and Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cups.
The agreement was sealed after a bidding process and the winning bid represents a 70% increase in the rights value, the ACC said without sharing the bid price. Quoting anonymous sources, multiple Indian media sources reported the value of the contract at $170 million.
The substantial increase in rights value “will enable the ACC to channel significant resources into grassroots programs, infrastructure development, and talent pathways, especially for associate nations,” the organization said.
“Congratulations to the ACC for conducting a fair and transparent bidding process for the rights to the ACC tournaments! We are delighted to bring these action-packed tournaments, which will also include India and Pakistan matches, to our viewers for the next 8 years,” said SPNI’s MD & CEO, Gaurav Banerjee.
Sony had been looking to expand its TV and streaming businesses in India through a merger deal with Zee Entertainment Enterprises. But that deal collapsed in January after more than two years of negotiations. That has left mid-sized TV operators in India looking to find new ways of expanding their scale.
Cricket rights, in particular, are a crucial battleground for broadcasters and streamers as they generate huge audiences and drive advertising and subscriber acquisition.
India’s anti-monopolies regulator earlier this year expressed concern about a concentration of cricket rights in the hands of Reliance Industries (Viacom18, Jio) and Disney. Despite the worries, those two companies have been granted regulatory approval to merge. Indian media sources said that Jio and Disney did not submit bids for the ACC rights.
Earlier this year, SPNI acquired TV and digital rights to all New Zealand-based men’s and women’s cricket matches into India and associated territories for the next seven years. The deal is valid from May 1, 2024 through April 30, 2031, encompassing India’s tours of New Zealand in the 2026-27 and 2030-31 summers, as well as all other bilateral Tests, ODIs, and T20Is played in New Zealand during the period. All matches will be broadcast across SPNI’s sports channels and streamed on SonyLIV.
