THERE WAS A TIME when over-the-top (OTT) platforms were the dumping grounds for inferior content—from unreleased films to obscure reality shows to recorded (non-live) sports clips. The mass eyeballs and the premium ad dollars invariably went to television. Increasingly, with the boom in smartphone adoption and the spread of low-cost internet, propelled by Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio, the landscape changed dramatically in India. Today, OTTs are mainstream, with sports emerging as the ‘golden goose’ in the segment. Not only is there more money to be made in sports, there’s also more loyal viewership and greater customer stickiness.
In India, sports streaming has always been dominated by cricket. “More than 90 per cent of it [sports streaming] is cricket,” says Karan Taurani, Senior Vice President at brokerage firm Elara Capital. “The rest is non-cricket or what we call ‘emerging sports’, of which football is the largest.”
In terms of viewership numbers, there’s no beating cricket. No surprise then that the streaming rights for showpiece tournament Indian Premier League (IPL) were
