MUMBAI: Premier League (EPL) fans in India can clink their beer mugs with glee. Especially if they are going to be watching the matches between their favourite clubs in a bar. JioStar has secured the media rights for the next three seasons beginning with the 2025-2026  one,  in a deal valued at $65 million, if a report in The Economic Times is to be believed. In all probability, the rights cover both live broadcasting on  television and  on streaming.

The  audiovisual rights for the previous cycle (2022-2025) were with  Disney Star India’s Star Sports. However, with Disney Star India merging with Reliance Industries' owned Viacom18 and Bodhi Tree Systems and being renamed as JioStar, it was the latter which put in the bid and acquired the rights.

JioStar also has the rights to the  Indian Super League  - India’s premier soccer tournament – which came its way in the wake of the merger.

“With this, the conglomerate will be driving the future of football in India,” says a sports media consultant.  “They are going to be putting a lot of marketing and promotional muscle behind the Premier League because if you look at the new deal with it, Uday Shankar and team Sanjog Gupta have apportioned $11 million for marketing EPL events in India during the cycle and $54 million for the audiovisual rights, according to the ET report.”

However, how the live telecasts will be divided between Sports18 and Star Sports and Hotstar and JioCinema was not clear at the time of writing. Keep watching this space until some clarity comes in. 

Manchester City had lifted the Premier League title in May 2024 with Arsenal emerging as the runner-up. 

(Picture courtesy Premier League website)