As Reliance launches Sports18, how could it boom Indian broadcasting?

Soon, we will witness the much-awaited launch of Reliance Viacom's New Sports Channel 'Sports18'. The channel is scheduled to be launched at 6:00 PM IST on 15th April 2022. Mukesh Ambani's empire has completed all preparations for the launch. 

The channels will go live on all major DTH and cable providers as per our sources. It will go live with Sports18 1, Sports18 1 HD, Sports18 2, Sports18 2 HD, besides Hindi channel Khel18. 

The sports market in India has been a duopoly for years, and now with the entry of Reliance into the market, it is set to be a three-horse race. Sports18 will feature the world's most premium sports properties; the Reliance owned entity has the rights to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, NBA, LaLiga, Ligue 1, Serie A, Abu Dhabi T10, amongst others. 

A major change is about to occur in the world of cricket and, to be precise, in Indian cricket, Reliance is set to battle it out with Star India for the rights of the Indian Premier League, ICC events, and India bilateral series. With the IPL media rights for the next cycle set to take place in June, it seems to be the perfect time for Reliance to enter the market.

The major factors that influence the entry of Reliance into the Indian Cricket and IPL rights are: 

Reliance has always worked alongside the Board of Cricket Control in India as their websites and applications were developed by Reliance.

Reliance already owns an IPL franchise in Mumbai Indians, and they have already roped in major sports right from across the globe.

IMG Reliance has managed some of the most prominent cricketers that are under contract with the BCCI. Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Shreyas Iyer are just a few of them.

The Indian cricket market is the biggest in the world of cricket. The revenue generated by the BCCI is second to none. If Reliance manages to acquire the rights of the Indian home series and the rights of the Indian cricketing carnival, the Indian Premier League, it won't take them long to establish a dominating position in the Indian sports market.

They already have the rights to the FIFA World Cup, one of the biggest events in world football and on top of that, if they win the rights of the IPL in June, they might soon be on par with their two biggest rivals in Sony and Star Sports.

The rights of the IPL for the first 10 years were sold to Sony for INR 8,200 crore, and in the next cycle from 2018 to 2022, Star acquired the rights for a whopping 16,347.5 crore. The expected amount for the next cycle (2023-2027) is expected to be over INR 50,000 crore. An amount that Mukesh Ambani can surely afford.

The rights to broadcast Cricket Australia's matches in India are currently with Sony, and the deal is set to expire in 2023. However, according to the reports, a three-member team from Cricket Australia travelled to India a few days back to discuss the possibility of Reliance Viacom purchasing the rights for the next cycle.

If Reliance manages to get this deal under their belt along with the rights of Team India, they will have access to two of the big three in World Cricket which we stamp their authority in the game.

Amazon will also be involved in the media rights of some of the most significant cricketing events, which will make things much more exciting and it is expected that there might be a situation where the rights are split into two (Reliance having the broadcasting rights and Amazon to have OTT rights).

On top of all these, Reliance is one of the country's biggest empires, and winning a bidding war might not be that difficult for them. One thing is for sure a new wave is entering the Indian cricketing market.