IPL is coming in two days and the excitement is sky high. But after streaming IPL for free for past two years, Jio Hotstar has now decided to make it a subscribers only feature. And this move feels like snatching that free lollypop after making you addicted to it.
To say it was a surprise or shocking step by Jio Hotstar post merger would not be right because everyone knew eventually the free offer would end sooner or later.
The question here is, will this affect the online viewership of IPL 2025?
To some extent yes! India is a country of cricket lovers and hence IPL has a huge fan base in the country. Somewhere its free streaming on Disney+ Hotstar (now Jio Hotstar) for last two years catalysed its popularity even further with making it easily accessible to a larger audience.
Now that people will have to pay to watch it online, there might be high chances of dropped online viewership of the same, specially the younger audience who prefers the online version. (Please note we aren’t talking about the televised live broadcast here.)
So will this impact IPL and its profitability? Definitely NO, because online viewership numbers are not their concern and their major earning comes from sponsorships, advertisement revenue etc.
Also, it won’t hurt Jio Hotstar either since whoever will be watching IPL now on their platform will be paying a premium price for it. So it’s a win-win for them too.
The only ones to lose something here are the cricket fans who will have to dig their pockets deeper for that sports entertainment they were getting for free till now. On top of it if Jio Hotstar glitches this time again and results in a bad viewing experience, it would surely hurt even more.
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