Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and Disney Star have signed a strategic licensing agreement for exclusive TV rights of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Men's events for four years.
Zee will be the one-stop TV destination to broadcast ICC Men's tournaments in India while Disney+ Hotstar will exclusively retain all digital rights to stream all ICC tournaments.
"This association enables ZEE to be the exclusive television rights holder of ICC men's events, including the coveted ICC Men's T20 World Cup (2024, 2026), ICC Men's Champions Trophy (2025), and the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup (2027) along with key ICC U-19 events," Disney Star said in a statement.
The ICC had said that Disney Star won the rights following a single round, sealed-bid process, adding that the deal had yielded a "significant uplift" to the rights fee from the previous cycle. The tender, bidding and evaluation process had begun in June.
"We are delighted to continue to partner with Disney Star as the home of ICC cricket for the next four years which has delivered an outstanding result for our Members and will support our ambitious growth plans," ICC Chair Greg Barclay said last week.
In June, Disney-owned Star India retained the television broadcast rights to the popular Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition for $3 billion after a three-day online auction.
