INDIAN FOOTBALL

Viacom18 have successfully won the rights for 2022 FIFA World Cup

About Football Express India - Indian Super League - I-League

Viacom18 have secured the rights for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup. According to sources, Viacom18 secured FIFA World Cup broadcasting rights for a value of Rs 450 crore. The broadcaster also picked up the very first major broadcasting rights in the Indian sub-continent region after Sony, Star who are the other competitors.

This can also be interpreted as supporting the entry of Viacom 18 into the Indian radio sports enterprise. Note that FIFA rights were valued at $12 million by the Star Sports Network until 2010. In 2012, Sony Sports Network was given the two circuit rights for FIFA World Cup 2014 (Brazil) & 2018 (Russia). Accordingly, Sony received two-cycle licenses valued at USD 80 million.

The arrival of Reliance into the realm of sports broadcasting is finally a reality as it has been repeatedly publicised over the last few months. The former Star Sports veteran Anil is appointed as CEO. It is a joint venture between the American powerhouse of entertainment, ViacomCBS and Mukesh Ambani’s Network18. It is worth noting that for his former employers, namely Disney Star Sports, Jayaraj played an important role in the commercially monetizing of major cricket properties such as the Indian Premier League, BCCI, and ICC cricket. After nearly 6.5 years, Jayaraj left Star Sports in July.

The entertainment broadcasters, incidentally, have bought rights over the past couple of months to Leagues like Serie A in Italy and Ligue 1 in France. And the T10 Abu Dhabi rights also go to Viacom 18. At the Sametime, they will launch a new channel for sports soon.

Viacom18 and Reliance interest in Sports

In recent months, the joint venture has been particularly active in the field of sports. It has gathered media rights for the Indian subcontinent from several sports litas. And they are suspected of throwing their hat into the ring for a prospective IPL Media, ICC and BCCI bid.

Reliability in the Indian sports business has become a vital actor through its on-the-ground, marketing and sports IP activities. Reliance owns the Mumbai Indian IPL team. Further Reliance Company also owns the Indian Super League (ISL).

Reliance was also run by a joint venture with IMG, a global sports marketing giant. The entity now owns 100% of Indian developers and is known as RISE. In the past, Reliance Jio has also made direct offers for both digital IPL Rights and BCCI rights.

Do follow us on Twitter to get the latest news and updates on Indian Football.

To Top