18 sponsors have joined Disney Star for the 2023 Asia Cup.

Disney had a difficult year in India’s streaming market. The business purchased the Indian streaming service Hotstar in 2019 after paying $71 billion for some of 21st Century Fox’s global holdings. The Indian Premier League at the time had streaming rights on Hotstar. Disney made the decision to launch subscription options in 2020 for those who want to watch cricket. Therefore, Hotstar subscribers were no longer able to watch the thrilling IPL action for free.

The India streaming business, which by number of subscribers were Disney’s largest worldwide the previous year, reported a staggering loss of $41.5 million on $390 million in revenue for the year ending March 2022. Within a few years, they were certain that there would be roughly 100 million users.

However, when BCCI launched the bidding process for media rights prior to IPL 2023, Mukesh Ambani submitted the winning offer of $2.9 billion. They continued by giving their users free access to all of the IPL 2023 action. As they did not seem particularly interested in the other stuff available there, Disney subscribers soon left their platform.

Disney has the streaming rights to Asia Cup 2023, and by offering users a free viewing of the event, they want to make a comeback.

The “only bullet left” for Disney to make up the losses, according to a reliable source, is to show cricket for free.

“We had high hopes for Indian subscribers’ willingness to pay. That didn’t turn out well. The only shot left is free cricket, according to two Disney sources, as reported by The Telegraph.

On Wednesday, August 30, the Asia Cup begins with Pakistan vs Nepal, a first-time competitor. Additionally included in this group is India, while group B is made up of Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. On September 2, India and Pakistan will face off in the highly anticipated matchup.

Disney Star, the Indian division of Walt Disney Co., expects the Asia Cup to bring in between 350 and 400 crores in advertising income.

For the next competition, the official broadcaster, Dinsey, has signed up 18 sponsors across Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar. Famous companies like Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Glow & Lovely from HUL, Surf Excel, Jindal Panther, BPCL, My11Circle, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Amul, Maruti, Berger, McEnroe, Thums Up, Amazon Pay, MRF, Policy Bazaar, Tira from Reliance Retail, and ICICI PRU MF are among the sponsors.

As sports fans in India eagerly await to see the “Men in Blue” in action at the upcoming Asia Cup 2023, cricket fever is at an all-time high. Brands from many different categories are similarly enthusiastic and have offered to work together with Disney+ Hotstar and Star Sports Network to advance their business goals and reach millions of fans. According to Ajit Varghese, Head of Network – Ad Sales, Disney Star, “We are thrilled with the positive response we have received for the Asia Cup and are looking forward to delivering an unmatched cricketing experience across both TV and Digital.”