Credit: Inside the MagicThe Walt Disney Company is looking for answers after a huge Indian media company reportedly skipped a staggering $200 million payment for the rights to televised cricket matches in the world’s biggest market.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises is being widely reported (per Bloomberg) as having defaulted on a massive payment to Disney, which is just a fraction of the $1.4 billion the Mumbai-based company is said to have agreed to in exchange for the rights to broadcast International Cricket Council men’s matches. As part of the contract, Disney retained the right to exclusive streaming of cricket in India, but it is now unclear what this defaulted payment could lead to.
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Disney Star originally licensed the rights to televised cricket to Zee Entertainment in 2022 for a five-year exclusive deal, but it seems entirely likely that missing a payment like this could lead to the dissolution of the deal. However, that’s not the only deal that Zee Entertainment might be in danger of losing.
Zee Entertainment is currently in negotiations for a massive merger with Sony Group, which would create one of the world’s largest media companies. However, it is also being reported that the Zee-Sony merger is collapsing, which could explain why the Indian company is experiencing the kind of cash crunch that leads to missing a $200 million payment to one of the world’s most litigious companies.
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In recent months, Disney has been looking to form a partnership with Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance group, ceding control over the Disney Hotstar service to the mega-company. Zee Entertainment’s collapsing merger with Sony will undoubtedly have some impact on Disney’s own plans, but we shall have to wait to see what answers emerge about the financial kerfuffle.
Inside the Magic reached out to Zee Entertainment for comment, but has not heard back by the time of publishing.
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