Disney+ Hotstar to stream World Cup, Asia Cup for free to half a billion smartphone users in India

“The move to lift the paywall for mobile-only viewers of both, the Asia Cup and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, is aimed at further democratizing the game of cricket and making it accessible to as many mobile users in India as possible for the duration of the season,” the company said in a release.

More than 540 million smartphone users across India will have the opportunity to watch the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup for free, it added.

Disney+ Hotstar has also enabled free streaming for tablets.

Asia Cup 2023 is scheduled to be held during September in cricket-crazy India and the Asian nation will also host the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup spanning nearly two months from October 5 to November 19. While Asia Cup has 13 matches scheduled, World Cup will see 10 countries fighting for the coveted trophy and there are a total of 48 matches scheduled.

Both the events will see a deluge of viewers, with Asia Cup already garnering interest amid controversy of the Pakistan cricket team visiting India while the once-in-four years event World Cup is the top product for 50-overs ricket matches. This also comes after marquee Indian Premier League this year set record viewership numbers for both television and digital platforms. However, BCCI had split the media rights for IPL for the first time, where Disney Star picked the TV rights and billionare businessman Mukesh Ambani’s JioCinema had the digital rights. JioCinema had streamed the IPL matches for free on the digital platforms.

Disney Star had earlier said that IPL has become the first cricket tournament to register over half a billion viewers of the live broadcast on TV.

Making the two upcoming marquee cricketing events stream for free, Disney+ Hotstar hopes to register strong digital viewrship in the world’s most populous country.

“Disney+ Hotstar has remained at the forefront of the rapidly evolving OTT industry in India and the various innovations we have introduced to continue enhancing the viewer experience has allowed us to delight our audiences across the region. Making the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup available to a wider audience, we believe, will help us grow the overall eco-system,” said Sajith Sivanandan, Head of Disney+ Hotstar.

In August 2022, Disney Star was awarded the rights to broadcast in India all ICC tournaments till 2027.