JioStar Seeks Telecom Bundles in Advance of IPL 2025
JioStar is negotiating with Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (Vi) to bundle subscriptions for its streaming platform with telecom data plans before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, sources close to the matter say.
With live sports now paywalled, such collaborations are important to JioStar's goal of getting over 1 billion viewers on TV and digital platforms. IPL viewership jumped to 620 million on JioCinema and 541 million on Star Sports in 2024, pointing to the hunger for live cricket content.
The tie-ups would enable users to view premium JioHotstar content using their data plans without a need for standalone subscriptions. Experts opine that packaging OTT services with prepaid and postpaid plans will accelerate telecom data consumption, as witnessed during the free streaming of IPL in earlier seasons.
"These telecom tie-ups will enable JioHotstar to leverage a huge internet user base, particularly with content now behind a paywall", an executive participating in the talks said. The negotiations are said to include both mobile and home broadband plans.
A source also said that JioHotstar's content agreement with Airtel lapsed last month, and its renewal was essential to sustain viewership gains, especially after the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 the first large-scale tournament behind a paywall since the launch of JioHotstar on February 14.
If these deals are finalized, they could transform the way millions of fans consume IPL 2025, combining instant connectivity with high-end sports content.
