Marquee sports rights are set to reshape India's television and streaming market. With Zee Entertainment Enterprises partnering the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to bring FIFA World Cup 2026 and other FIFA properties to India, broadcasters and streaming platforms in the entertainment market could see strengthened competition for viewer eyeballs, advertising and subscriptions that will go well beyond the arena of sports.
According to industry experts, FIFA can strengthen Zee’s linear TV and OTT proposition and improve ad sales across its entertainment and sports network during tournament periods, even as rival JioStar dominates the country's sports ecosystem.
While Zee has not disclosed the size of the deal, industry executives peg it at around $30-40 million for the entire package.
Market fragmentation
Viewers benefit from greater competition in sports broadcasting, which can improve viewing quality, innovation and promotional offers. But fragmentation remains a pain point as consumers increasingly need multiple subscriptions across platforms to access different sports properties. Further, questions of streaming quality and tech capability to broadcast large sports properties remain.
“The larger shift we are seeing across the industry is that audiences increasingly expect integrated and high-engagement content ecosystems, rather than siloed entertainment experiences. Premium live sports properties, particularly globally celebrated tournaments like FIFA, have the ability to drive appointment viewing, repeat engagement and stronger audience loyalty,” said Bavesh Janavlekar, chief business officer, Unite8 Sports at Zee Entertainment Enterprises.
This creates a competitive advantage for platforms that can offer a diverse and differentiated content portfolio spanning sports, entertainment and regional content. “As audience expectations evolve, the focus is no longer just on acquiring content, but on building richer consumer experiences that deepen engagement and create long-term value,” Janavlekar added.
Zee Group’s FIFA deal signifies reaching out to new audiences through a premium, global youth-skewed property that can be cross-promoted across various general entertainment channels (GECs) and platforms to leverage better reach and attract younger male audiences, said Ramkishen Y., professor of marketing at K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management. “The Zee move will create a ripple effect as a challenger brand in the football sports ecosystem, although cricket is still the biggest monetization sporting ecosystem in India,” he added.
Ramkishen said JioStar still carries the deepest sports stack in India, ranging from the Indian Premier League (IPL) to the EPL (English Premier League), while Sony remains a major football broadcaster with UEFA Championship on SonyLIV. Netflix’s sports move is more about live events and engagement layers, such as WWE and a FIFA-branded game on Netflix Games, while Prime Video has a sports section but that not so dominant in the Indian market.
Agreeing that Zee's acquisition of FIFA media rights will help them diversify their content, Rajat Agrawal, chief operating officer at Ultra Media & Entertainment Group, said football's popularity among younger, urban audiences aligns with Zee's target demographic, enabling effective marketing and advertising strategies. Also, Zee's investment in sports infrastructure promises high-quality broadcasts and engaging content.
While movies and web series are typically geared towards young adult as well as female or family audiences, sports properties draw male viewers, across ages and metros, tier-two and three towns.
“Zee’s sports rights strengthen its bargaining power in channel packaging and OTT bundling discussions. Telcos may see value in bundling ZEE5 with data plans during FIFA windows to drive ARPU (average revenue per user) and engagement," said Vishal Agrahari, vice-president, paid media at digital marketing agency BC Web Wise. "However, distributors will also weigh whether FIFA’s seasonal appeal justifies higher carriage or bundling commitments.” ZEE5 gains a sharper consumer proposition in a crowded OTT market, where there is no clear differentiation, according to Agrahari. Sony needs to reinforce its sports portfolio to avoid losing share of voice in premium sports broadcasting, while mid-tier OTT platforms may find it difficult to compete if they don’t have marquee live content.
That said, many believe Zee's FIFA acquisition is not just a sports rights story but perhaps the most important test yet of whether India's advertising ecosystem has matured beyond cricket.
“It is a strategic attempt to create differentiation in a media landscape where premium content is increasingly concentrated among a handful of players," said Umair Mohammad, founder and chief executive officer at Nitro Commerce, an artificial intelligence and marketing tech platform. "The larger question for advertisers is whether India has evolved into a genuine multi-sport media market or continues to remain overwhelmingly cricket-centric.”
According to Zee, the FIFA World Cup raked in 100 million viewers over the opening weekend, across its digital, linear and social platforms. The company’s digital sports and entertainment platform ZEE5 garnered 6 million viewers on the opening weekend.
And for a grassroots push, the group has said it will invest 15% of ZEE5’s football-related subscription revenue to identify, train and nurture young football talent across the country.