EXCLUSIVE | “The FIFA World Cup becomes an ideal anchor for us”: Unite8 Sports boss Bavesh Janavlekar

Unite8 Sports’ Bavesh Janavlekar is optimistic ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. (Special arrangement) In 2002, Ten Sports, backed by Abdulrahman Bukhatir, broke into the subcontinent’s broadcasting market with the FIFA World Cup. A number of other properties followed and the company built a strong subscriber base in competition with ESPN Star Sports.Before the Star Sports merger, Jio made the same effort with FIFA World in Qatar in 2022. Through JioCinema, the company offered free consumption on OTT (JioCinema).Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) hopes to achieve the same growth in 2026 with Unite8 Sports and Zee5 acquiring broadcast rights for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and beyond.The company’s stock price went through a 16.63% increase in the 10 days prior to the official announcement. As the tournament, which begins on June 11, approaches, that growth has doubled to 32.44% at the time of writing.ZEEL announced its intention to re-enter the sports broadcasting space last year. Earlier this year, steps were taken to do so and now the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has approved four channels: Unite8 Sports 1, Unite8 Sports 1 HD, Unite8 Sports 2 and Unite8 Sports 2 HD.Unlike 2002 and 2022, the upcoming World Cup, which will be played in the US, Mexico and Canada, faces the major hurdle of difficult time zones and therefore little interest from advertisers.

Zee has secured FIFA broadcast rights till 2034. (ANI)

Bavesh Janavlekar, Chief Commercial Officer, Unite8 Sports, says there has been positive feedback from advertisers and audiences who are willing to pay Rs 799 for three months (World Cup + All Access).To target different audiences, the live broadcast will be available in Bangla (Zee Bangla Sonar), Malayalam (Zee Keralam), Hindi (Zee Cinema and Unite8 Sports 1) and English (Unite8 Sports 2).Apart from FIFA events, the company also holds the broadcast rights to ILT20 (cricket), Bengal Super League (football) and UP Kabaddi League (kabaddi) and aspires to add more regional sports content to the portfolio while not shying away from its biggest fan base: cricket. In an exclusive chat with TimesofIndia.com, Janavlekar shares his thoughts on Indian sports, the broadcasting environment in the country, the FIFA World Cup, the cricket challenge and more.excerpts:What are your first thoughts at this stage?Bavesh: First thoughts, I think the response from the market, the audience, everyone, has been very very positive. And our team is using the best strategy we have now.And it was very positive from the audience. And then we hope to get a positive response from the entire nation in the future.I feel like this is a really strong role. I think the key thing is that we have a long-term goal with FIFA and it’s not transactional, it’s a long-term thing with them. Along with not only being the home of football, but actually a lot of football at the national level. And the large audience it already has. So this is a good start for us.Q: Launching a sports channel after almost a decade. How much pressure was there from shareholders?Bavesh: See, I don’t think it has anything to do with going back. Ours is an entertainment organization and sport is actually a form of entertainment.In fact, it plays a very significant role across all fields. There is live sport, live music, live theatre, everything live will be happening across the board.There is definitely traction in sports. The kind of capitalization of sport was also important, there was an opportunity.

People walk past a cutout of Argentine footballer Lionel Messi ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Chellanam in Kochi, Kerala. (PTI)

Q: Over the last couple of years, India has reached a point where it’s just JioStar, right? Sony also has some properties, but it ended up being a one horse race when it came to big real estate. Do you think that will change now with your launch?Bavesh: The sports economy in India is at an inflection point. Now it’s not just in terms of viewership, but also in terms of the experience that we see across sports today. Despite all the challenges we have, we have top performances, in badminton, we have chess, we have always had boxing in the last few years.I think there is an increase in excellence that our athletes are achieving. And it’s an opportunity to get into alternative sports teams, if I can call it that, and grow with it.Our strategy will not be about buying media rights, but also about developing relationships with interested parties.With the way the sport is going now, we believe it is time to explore other sports that have very strong potential.

The FIFA World Cup trophy is on display during the opening ceremony at the International Broadcast Center in Dallas. (AP)

Q: The time zone for the upcoming FIFA World Cup makes it very difficult to find advertisers, and in a country like ours, advertisers make up a large portion of the money any broadcaster makes when it comes to live sports. And in this scenario, live sport is likely to be less consumed than highlights. How will you deal with this distress?Bavesh: I think the strategy is spot on. More importantly, we try to make the time zone flexible for us, to our advantage. We have developed a programming strategy in terms of live broadcasts and types of programming.Morning programming, programming day, main events, external distribution, market model will be there for a while.The response from advertisers has been very positive. The fans were also very positive. And the whole buildup is great, the team is working very hard and we’re developing more platforms and getting more videos on the channel.

I think football fans will not have to worry about kaha pe dikhega football in the next 8 years

Bavesh Janavlekar, Commercial Director, Unite8 Sports

Q: The FIFA World Cup has been bundled as a Rs 799 pack on Zee5 (for OTT). It’s steep compared to other platforms. What is the thought process there?Bavesh: The ZEE5 team has studied the platform and the packs you are talking about are not just for the FIFA World Cup pack. After that, we also need to improve it.This (reaction) has also been very positive. This will expand the Zee5 package. We’ve seen a lot of passion, so we’re confident.Q: What is the real value of the World Cup and the package?Bavesh: I don’t want to make up numbers (laughs). You have seen that people want to secure the rights for the next 8 years and they want to win the World Cup rights if they are interested enough. I think the ups and downs were also interesting to read. The fact is that we are preparing for the next almost ten years.Not only in terms of stories but also the development of football in India. It is a very important thing. I would like to see a soccer team in the World Cup soon.I think football fans will not have to worry about football where do you look over the next 8 years. The World Cup in football is becoming an ideal anchorage for us. We can ensure a strong relationship with them.

Our focus on cricket would be guided by the principles of financial literacy. I have a commitment to all stakeholders, so if it makes sense in the long run, let’s go for it

Bavesh Janavlekar, Commercial Director, Unite8 Sports

Q: You have entered into an 8-year partnership with FIFA that spans 39 tournaments. Barring the 2030 FIFA World Cup in Spain and Portugal, which will be in a good time zone for India, how much of this is portfolio and business sense?Bavesh: We intend to grow and make it popular. We intend to improve relations. Not only in terms of viewership, but also on the ground. 8 years is a long time and with a little passion and thinking we can do it well.Q: Right now you have ILT20 as the only property that is associated with cricket. Do you intend to enter this space or will it be an endeavor where non-cricket entities will flourish?Bavesh: I wouldn’t want to compare the two sports. According to reports 80-90% of India watch and consume cricket. I wouldn’t want to compare it now. It is not a non-cricket strategy and we would have to go for it.But our focus on cricket would be guided by the principles of financial literacy. I have a commitment to all the parties involved, so if it makes sense not just as a cricket property, but in the long term, if it makes sense, we will certainly go for it.But once it becomes a driving engine, it’s something that’s being worked on, a lot of innovation can be done. Cricket is the heart of India and if we see the point in it, we will go for it.

How do you like the Rs 799 World Cup pack on Zee5?