If you don’t think franchise cricket is taking over, there’s even more reason to believe that might be the case. The vice president of JioStar, India’s leading cricket broadcaster, has now questioned cricket’s decision makers as to why they should invest in bilateral cricket, especially those that do not involve high-profile teams.

In an interview with Variety, Uday Shankar gave cricket administrators a stark reality check about how they price their media packages, arguing that sporting bodies are on the verge of pricing themselves out of their most profitable market.

“Why should you really have hope? geostar Should I pay the same price for a match between India and Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh, or India and Sri Lanka as I pay for a match between India and England or India and Australia?” Shankar asked, hinting at a major change in the way media companies calculate their investments.

The warning comes as aggressive bidding wars that have historically driven up the value of cricket broadcasting rights are finally beginning to cool down. Broadcasters are no longer willing to absorb flat-rate premium fees for poorly watched bilateral tours, instead choosing to focus on long-term profitability and viewership data. Historically, media giants have engaged in fierce, multi-way tug-of-war, paying more for content to prevent rivals from gaining a foothold in the market. Today, that defensive corporate spending is being replaced by strict fiscal discipline.

Furthermore, the industry dynamics that drove the historic price surge in 2022 are highly unlikely to be repeated. The mega-merger of Viacom18 and Disney’s Indian operations into JioStar has effectively removed the primary source of competitive tension from the market. With the biggest bidding rivals now operating under the same umbrella, the aggressive bidding wars that previously plagued cricket rights are officially a thing of the past.

weakening of per-match value

The conflict is likely to increase further due to the impending stagnation of media rights in the future. Projections reportedly indicate that the next broadcast cycle after 2027 will remain stable at around US$5.4 billion. Although this technically matches the main value of the existing deal at current exchange rates, it actually represents a 13 percent decline on a per match basis.

Cricket boards have attempted to generate more total revenue by expanding the calendar, but the extended match schedule only reduces individual game value. Broadcasters are realizing that running more inventory doesn’t yield nearly as many advertising dollars, especially when the quality of that inventory is compromised by low-profile fixtures.

viewer’s perspective

The increasing number of spectators is increasing the crisis for cricket administrators. The cricket calendar is constantly full; The domestic Men’s T20 World Cup is a massive event in itself, but it now has to compete for mental bandwidth with the mammoth IPL season. Shortly thereafter, the Women’s T20 World Cup in England forms an overlapping broadcast schedule with global spectacles such as the FIFA World Cup.

This constant barrage of premium tournaments doesn’t give fans any room to breathe, completely taking away the novelty of the game. When high-stakes World Cups and marquee franchise leagues go on simultaneously, low-profile bilateral series simply become background noise. Audiences are tired, and broadcasters are realizing they can’t make money from viewers who are actively tuning out.

Ultimately, Shankar made it clear that unless international cricket bodies adapt to these changing financial dynamics, curb calendar inflation, and restructure their valuation expectations, the traditional bilateral game faces an imminent pricing crisis.

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