‘It’s free and ab double Maza’ – Fans react to official broadcasters streaming 2023 Asia Cup and World Cup matches for free of cost
India co-hosted the ODI World Cup in 2011.
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Jun 9, 2023 3:10 pm
Team India (Source: Twitter)
The 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup will be held in India for the first time since 2011. The 50 over tournament will take place only in India this time unlike 2011 when the ODI World Cup was hosted jointly by Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India.
The big news for all the cricket lovers in India is that they can watch the 2023 ODI World Cup and also the Asia Cup streaming for free on Hotstar which will be applicable only when it comes to mobile phones.
Hotstar, who is the sole broadcaster for these two events, will stream the event free only when it comes to mobile devices. Disney Star had viewership records which were off the charts when it came to Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.
Hotstar had lost out to Jio Cinema when it came to the digital rights of IPL 2023. Jio had streamed the IPL for free in its app. With Hotstar loosening its strings and making these two tournaments free, this in turn will give access to more than 540 million users, who can watch the Asia Cup 2023 and the World Cup as well for free.
We wanted to make the tournaments available for a wider audience in terms of streaming- Sajith Sivanadan
“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 Men’s Cricket World Cup available to a wider audience, we believe, will help us grow the overall eco-system,” said Sajith Sivanandan, the Head of, Disney+ Hotstar.
In their press release, Hotstar said with the order that they have passed, their aim is to make the game of cricket more ‘democratizing which will help users get easier access to the game of cricket and specifically to a large mobile user base in India. Cricket in India is widely loved and is adored among the Indian public. Star Sports and Hotstar had the rights for the IPL in both TV and digital for a long time until 2023.
Let us take a look at the reactions on Twitter:
Revenue through one or two month paid subscriptions is nothing when compared to ad revenue generated through free streaming. No one is going to get yearly subscriptions for a month or two long series and this is a pretty smart move by Disney+ Hotstar
As per me… Bad decision. In IPL, there is jio cinema… but in world cup, no competitor… hence, no need to give free… Baaki hotstar waale hoshiyaar h… Kuch soch samajh ke hi Kiya hoga…
Poor marketing. With the world cup around the corner, it would have been good to pull some more subscribers. Once the World Cup is over, it's gone for them again.
Yeah after watching WTC final, can expect more disasters from the current Indian team. To be honest there aren't many tough characters in this side. Can't expect a world cup win IMO, Winning it would be a major surprise.
