Media and entertainment: Follow one offering through the chain
Film, television, music, news, games and live events funded by viewers and ads
Follow one offering through the chain
An IPL match streamed to a billion
Follow one IPL match from the rights auction to your screen and the ads around it.
Rights worth ₹48,390 crore
₹118crrights value per match (calculated)Every match starts as a right. The BCCI and its ten franchises create the spectacle, and in 2022 the board sold IPL media rights for the 2023 to 2027 seasons for ₹48,390 crore across 410 matches, about ₹118 crore a match (calculated). Star India took television for ₹23,575 crore, and Viacom18, since merged into JioStar, took digital for ₹20,500 crore.1,5
Constraint Rights are auctioned in five-season blocks by one owner, the BCCI, so a broadcaster that loses the auction loses the product entirely. LED Lighting and displaysSt SteelICE Internal combustion engines and gensetsSoftware and IT servicesReal estateCameras, crews and 30 feeds
30broadcast feeds, IPL 2026At the ground, outside-broadcast trucks, camera operators, graphics teams and commentators turn the game into pictures and sound. JioStar produced IPL 2026 in 30 feeds across 12 languages, each with its own commentary, and offered viewers a multi-camera choice on the app, so one match becomes dozens of separate productions.2
Constraint Crews and broadcast gear travel between host cities all season, with diesel generators backing up stadium power for every live hour. Li LithiumCu CopperNMC Nickel-rich lithium-ion batteriesICE Internal combustion engines and gensetsComputers and electronicsTransport and logisticsStar Sports packages it for TV
16Star Sports sponsors, IPL 2026On television the match runs on the Star Sports network, wrapped in studio shows, replays and ad breaks. Sponsorship is now split across screens: in 2026, JioStar says, 16 sponsors came on board Star Sports and 22 partnered with JioHotstar, and the season brought in 125 new advertisers compared with the one before.2
Constraint A few networks hold the key sports rights, while viewers' shift to streaming and connected TV erodes linear TV's share of ad budgets. Bld Energy in buildingsICE Internal combustion engines and gensetsTelecommunicationsSoftware and IT servicesJioHotstar streams it live
870bnminutes watched, IPL 2026On phones and smart TVs, JioHotstar streams the same match, with choices of language and camera. Across TV and digital, IPL 2026 reached over 1.2 billion viewers by JioStar's own count, with 870 billion minutes of watch time and 25 billion digital video views, all figures the company reports itself rather than an outside auditor.2
Constraint A few platforms control audiences and data, and live sport needs server capacity sized for one evening's peak, not the average. DC Data centresSi SiliconSoftware and IT servicesData centres and cloudTelecommunicationsEdge servers absorb the peak
+22%connected-TV viewing growth, 2026Live video is copied to content-delivery servers inside telecom networks, close to viewers, so that millions can start a stream within seconds. Big moments, a final over or a star's innings, bring sudden spikes, and JioStar says connected-TV viewing grew 22% in 2026, meaning more high-resolution streams on big screens, each using far more data than a phone.2
Constraint Several delivery networks compete, but one large outage at peak can drop millions of live streams at once. Cu CopperDC Data centresDist Distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectorsData centres and cloudTelecommunicationsAd breaks repay the rights fee
63%digital share of Indian ad revenueAdvertising and subscriptions repay the rights fee. Agencies buy TV spots and digital impressions around each over, and money is moving online: India's digital advertising grew 26% to ₹947 billion in 2025, about 63% of all ad revenue, helping lift the media and entertainment sector 9% to ₹2.78 trillion, on FICCI-EY estimates.3
Constraint Digital ad inventory is concentrated in a few large platforms, and IPL ad rates hinge on proving reach to advertisers. DC Data centresBld Energy in buildingsSoftware and IT servicesData centres and cloudBARC meters set the TV currency
58,000BARC people metersTo price those spots, advertisers rely on measurement. On television that is BARC, India's only TV ratings agency, whose roughly 58,000 people meters stood in for some 230 million TV homes in 2025. Streaming platforms count their own viewers, which is why the season's 1.2 billion reach figure is the broadcaster's own claim.4,2
Constraint One ratings body sets the currency for TV advertising; in July 2025 the government proposed rule changes to let more agencies in. DC Data centresDist Distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectorsSoftware and IT servicesComputers and electronicsWhat the chain shows
One rights owner and one merged broadcaster sit upstream, while measurement and delivery capacity decide what the rights are worth.
Sources
- BCCI announces the successful bidders for acquiring the media rights for the Indian Premier League seasons 2023-2027 Board of Control for Cricket in India, 2022
- TATA IPL 2026 reach soars over 1.2 billion (press release) (company figures) JioStar, 2026
- India's media and entertainment sector grew 9 percent to INR2.78 trillion in 2025, driven by digital and live experiences: FICCI-EY report EY India, 2026
- I&B Ministry proposes amendments to rules for TV rating agencies to open up TRP market News On AIR (Prasar Bharati), 2025
- IPL media rights: Disney Star gets TV deal for Rs 23,575 crore The Week, 2022