T20 World Cup 2026: JioHotstar's Exit Surprise Really Stunned the ICC Just Before the Mega Tournament

The collaboration of India and Sri Lanka as hosts for the T20 World Cup 2026 has been attracting considerable attention. The tournament's match schedule has already been made public, and it is set to be held from February 7 to March 8. Yet, the ICC has received a shocker from JioHotstar, its reported official broadcaster, just a few months before the event.

Industry insiders claim that JioHotstar has communicated to ICC its reluctance to take charge of the next tournament’s broadcast duties. Even more important is that the OTT has also reportedly ceased participation in the remaining two years of its four-year Indian media rights deal, originally to run up to 2027.

What Caused JioHotstar To Go Out?

Insiders point out that losses piling up are the cause of JioHotstar’s pulling back so quickly. The expenditure on sports, especially cricket, seems to be enormous and might have overstretched the company even though it continues to be the largest streaming platform in India.

JioHotstar has previously procured the Indian media rights for the entire 2024-27 term through a whopping deal comprising around $3 billion. While the platform is quitting, the ICC has to deal with the challenge of identifying a broadcaster urgently.

ICC Invites for Media Rights Bidding Anew

The ICC has recently become a part of a fascinating turn of events and the media rights bidding process for the 2026-2029 cycle has been opened, with the whole deal being around $2.4 billion. The ICC has reportedly extended its invitation to multiple significant OTT platforms, following JioHotstar's departure:

• Zee Studios
• Sony Pictures Network India
• Netflix
• Amazon Prime Video

Still, no firm has formally participated yet despite the talks taking place, mainly because of the deal’s high rating, which many consider commercially unsuitable for the market at present.

How Does This Impact the T20 World Cup 2026 Event

The ICC is now under an even greater strain as the saga of the streaming rights, the event that millions of cricket fans are waiting for, has just added a new layer of drama. The global cricket organization will be relying on its next few months' work to enable it to secure a trustworthy media partner for one of the largest sports happenings around the world.

But the fans still have hope that soon enough, a powerful broadcaster will take over and thus the mega tournament will be covered effortlessly.