Naman Ramachandran India‘s antitrust watchdog has expressed initial concerns about the proposed $8.5 billion merger between Reliance and Walt Disney‘s media assets in the country, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has reportedly flagged potential harm to competition, primarily due to the combined entity’s power over cricket broadcast rights.
Cricket is the most popular sport in India, the world’s most populous nation. In 2022, Disney failed to win the streaming rights for the 2023-2027 seasons of the lucrative Indian Premier League cricket tournament, which it had shown on its Disney+ Hotstar streaming service.
Paying roughly $3 billion each, Reliance’s Jio took the streaming rights, while Disney secured only the pay-TV rights. Also in 2022, Disney Star had won Indian TV and digital rights to both men’s and women’s global events conducted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from 2024 through 2027.
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