A record 518 million Indian viewers watched the recently concluded men’s cricket World Cup matches on Walt Disney-owned television channels during the 48-day event, the entertainment firm said on Thursday. This was about twice as many as those who tuned in during the last tournament in 2015, which saw just over 300 million viewers watch the games on TV. The number of viewers watching on digital platforms was even higher, with consumption reaching 422 billion minutes. “This is a huge testament to the sport’s popularity in India and the unparalleled excitement around it, driven by the exceptional performance of the Indian team led by captain Virat Kohli,” the company said.
The final match between India and Australia in Delhi recorded a peak concurrency of 13 crore viewers on Disney+ Hotstar, the streaming arm of the firm, a record for any live sporting event, it said. This was even higher than the record of 5.2 crore viewers watched for the semifinals between India and New Zealand.
Viewership for the World Cup also boosted travel and hospitality, as fans flocked to India to witness some in-person matches. India’s strong performances, led by a potent squad coached by Rohit Sharma and captained by Kohli, created a craze in the country for the tournament that came after more than 12 years.
This sparked demand for the latest iPhones, which were available for preorder before the first game, and for new wireless networks capable of streaming high-quality video. That has made some companies, including Apple and Verizon Communications Inc., richer and led to a crowded market. Apple’s App Store is flooded with more than 100,000 apps for the World Cup, according to the analytics firm App Annie, which tracks download data.
However, the company’s strategy of making cricket accessible on mobile devices in India may have yet to pay off. While users have rushed to use the service, they have not stuck around in significant numbers to pay for other content, two Disney sources told Reuters. The company’s chief executive, Bob Iger, has acknowledged that it misjudged the willingness of Indians to spend money on a sports platform.
Disney bought the digital and streaming rights to show the International Cricket Council’s tournaments in India from 2024 to 2027 by paying around $3 billion. The rights deal was widely seen as a bid to counter the billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio TV, which snapped up the rights last year in a bidding war and streamed matches for free. The ICC declined to comment on the terms of the contract but said that the rights deal was awarded after an “incredibly competitive process that yielded a substantial uplift to the previous cycle.” The agreement also covers events such as the Champions Trophy and the ODI World Cup in 2026. The ICC previously awarded its previous digital and broadcast rights for the next cycle to Star, then a Fox network, which paid just over $2 billion.
