Star India’s Financial Woes, ICC Broadcast Deal Strain and Champions Trophy Uncertainty
Ending March 2024, Star India reported a significant loss of INR 12,548 crore, mainly due to setting aside INR 12,319 crore for an onerous contract. This provision was related to its costly media rights deal with the International Cricket Council, which impacted the broadcaster’s financial performance.
As the official broadcaster for all ICC events, Star will cover next year’s Champions Trophy, set for February-March in Pakistan. However, the recent financial news brings challenges for ICC, adding to the issues surrounding the tournament’s organisation. These difficulties may impact preparations for the Champions Trophy, placing additional pressure on the ICC in managing the event successfully.
Star India spoke about the potential merger with Viacom 18:
The company has estimated the contract with ICC to be onerous as the expected revenue from customers relating to this right as and when the related event is broadcasted/streamed is likely to be less than the cost involved in broadcasting and streaming these events and hence has estimated a loss from future events relating to these media rights to be ₹12,319.31 crore as of 31 March 2024.
Between April and June 2023, Star India earned $279 million in revenue, slightly up from $277 million the previous year. However, its losses rose to $314 million from $216 million. The company attributed these higher losses to increased production costs associated with coverage of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, which took place in the West Indies and the USA.
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