Why pay the same for IND vs AFG and IND vs AUS? Bilateral cricket gets a reality check

If you didn’t think cricket was taking over the franchise, there might be more reason to believe it might be. The vice-chairman of JioStar, India’s leading cricket broadcaster, has now asked cricket officials why they should invest in bilateral cricket, especially those that do not involve high-profile teams.

In an interview with Variety, Uday Shankar gave cricket administrators a direct reality check on how they value their media packages, arguing that sporting bodies are on the verge of cashing out of their most lucrative market.

“Why should you expect anyway Jio Star pay the same amount for an India-Afghanistan, India-Bangladesh or India-Sri Lanka match as I pay for an India-England or India-Australia match?” asked Shankar, signaling a massive shift in the way media companies calculate their investments.

The warning comes as the aggressive bidding wars that have historically inflated the value of cricket broadcasting rights are finally starting to cool down. Broadcasters are no longer willing to absorb flat fees for lesser-watched bilateral tours, focusing instead on long-term profitability and viewership figures. Historically, media giants have engaged in ruthless, multi-sided tug-of-war, overpaying for content simply to prevent rivals from gaining a foothold in the market. Today, this defensive corporate spending is replaced by strict fiscal discipline.

Moreover, a repeat of the industry dynamics that led to the historic price increase in 2022 is highly unlikely. The megamerger of multiom18 and Disney’s Indian operations into JioStar has effectively removed the primary source of competitive tension from the market. With the biggest bidding rivals now operating under the same umbrella, the aggressive bidding wars that once inflated cricket rights are officially a thing of the past.

Dilution value per match

Adding to the friction is the impending stagnation of future media rights. Projections are said to indicate that the next broadcast cycle after 2027 will stagnate at around US$5.4 billion. While this technically matches the headline value of the current deal at current exchange rates, it actually represents a 13 percent drop per match.

Cricket boards have tried to generate more overall revenue by inflating the calendar, but the expanded fixture schedule only dilutes the value of individual games. Broadcasters realize that running more inventory hardly translates into more advertising dollars, especially when the quality of that inventory is compromised by low-profile devices.

View of the viewer

The crisis for cricket administrators is causing a growing saturation of spectators. The cricket calendar is relentlessly packed; the men’s T20 World Cup at home is a huge event in itself, but now they have to compete for mental bandwidth with the sprawling IPL season. Immediately following, the Women’s T20 World Cup in England will create an overlapping broadcast schedule alongside global spectacles such as the FIFA World Cup.

This constant barrage of premium tournaments leaves no room for fans to breathe, completely eroding the novelty of the sport. When high-stakes World Cups and franchise leagues run concurrently, low-profile bilateral series simply become background noise. Viewers are burned out and broadcasters realize they can’t monetize an audience that actively tunes in.

Ultimately, Shankar made it clear that unless international cricket organizations adapt to these changing financial dynamics, curb calendar inflation and restructure their valuation expectations, the traditional bilateral game will face an imminent price crisis.

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Issued by:

Amar Panicker

Published on:

26 May 2026 10:29 IST

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