Sports Broadcasters will need to start behaving like Sports Platforms

For years, sports broadcasting in India operated on a simple premise: acquire premium rights at any cost, build audience scale, and monetisation would eventually follow. With the news of Zee acquiring FIFA rights that era is perhaps over. As a matter of fact, this declaration is actually based on a smaller story this week. JioStar has reduced its provision for losses on sports contracts by 31%, from ₹25,760 crore to ₹17,742 crore. That single number tells us more about the future of sports broadcasting than any rights announcement. Not only is the old era over, the new model will be built on value niches.

The traditional sports broadcasting model was built on scarcity. A broadcaster would acquire exclusive rights, distribute them through television, sell subscriptions and advertising, and recover costs over time. Today, however, audiences are fragmented across television, streaming, social media, YouTube highlights, creator content and short-form video. Attention is no longer monopolised by the rights holder and this has fundamentally altered the economics of sports.

The reduction in JioStar’s sports rights loss provision suggests that the merged Reliance-Disney entity is becoming more disciplined about monetisation. This is important because JioStar controls some of the biggest properties in Indian sport, including the IPL, ICC events and major international cricket rights.

Efficiency in managing a sports broadcast business today is a function of six levers:

1. Better advertising yields
2. Smarter subscription bundles
3. Greater digital monetisation
4. Regional language expansion
5. Commerce and sponsorship integration
6. Creator-led engagement ecosystems

The future broadcaster however will look less like a television company and more like a sports platform. Unlike cricket rights, which have become prohibitively expensive, FIFA presents an opportunity to build a sports ecosystem at a more manageable acquisition cost. Zee now has access to 39 FIFA events through 2034, including the 2026 and 2030 FIFA World Cups and the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

Rather than treating FIFA as a one-off event, Zee appears to be creating permanent sports infrastructure. The channels provide inventory for future acquisitions across football, kabaddi, combat sports, badminton and other emerging properties. In that sense, this is like acquiring the rights for a major reality show like Big Boss or KBC that on a standalone basis may not generate profits but on an aggregate basis brings value to the table.

Whether Zee is able to do this or not, the next decade may not belong solely to mega-rights such as the IPL. Instead, broadcasters may focus on what I call “value rights” properties that generate passionate audiences without carrying crippling acquisition costs. Besides FIFA tournaments, this could include women’s sport, regional leagues, combat sports, Kabaddi, Padel, pickleball and maybe youth sports festivals at a community level.

The economics of these properties can often be more attractive because the cost base is lower while audience engagement remains strong. Platforms will need to fundamentally reengineer both the structure and skill sets needed to make this work because the fundamental tenet is then about carrying the ‘stories’ and not necessarily the ‘telecast’.

Going forward, rights inflation will continue, but buyers will be far more selective. Every acquisition will be measured against realistic monetisation opportunities. Television remains critical, but increasingly the economics will be driven by digital subscriptions, data, targeted advertising and commerce opportunities around sport. The social platforms will become the determinant of success and the winners will be those who can create year-round engagement through creators, podcasts, communities, gaming and live experiences.

Also Read: AI and the new threat to Sport

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