The Indian Premier League is set to begin next month, and after 2025, the matches will no longer be freely streamed as subscriptions will be introduced. After obtaining the digital rights to stream the T20 tournament for five years, JioCinema has been streaming the IPL for free since 2023.
JioHotstar, a new streaming platform that has come up after the merger of Viacom18 and Star India, will now broadcast the IPL, the report specifies that the fans will have to pay for the matches now.
“…all streaming content, including IPL, will eventually move to a hybrid model where free viewing will be available for a few weeks, and then the users would have to subscribe based on the amount of content they consume,” says the report.
Aside from the very popular IPL, Jio Cinema has the rights over the Winter Olympics as well as the Indian Super League. Hotstar had the rights earlier to the tournaments of the International Cricket Council in India and that of the English Premier League.
The new venture is expected to offer a price point to subscribers starting at Rs 149.
The report added that the company would soon launch a rebranded app that will include a basic plan at Rs 149 and ad-free version for Rs 499 for three months.
Viacom18 bagged the digital rights for an astounding Rs 20,500 crore before the start of the IPL 2023 season. Star India retained the TV rights for the Indian subcontinent at Rs 23,575 crore.
Although the BCCI is yet to announce IPL dates formally, it is widely reported that it may start from the third week of March.
As there was no official announcement from the BCCI regarding the IPL schedule, it has been reported that the season is likely to start in the third week of March.
Another report said the defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders would face the Royal Challengers of Bangalore on March 22 at Eden Gardens in the opening match of the season. Apart from the ten franchises’ traditional home grounds, the matches are going to be held at Guwahati and Dharamsala.
