Fans can’t watch IPL 2025 for free? JioHotstar launch new tariff plans – India TV

The Indian Premier League 2025 is expected to begin in the fourth week of March. BCCI is yet to announce the schedule but as per reports, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will kick off the season against arch-rivals Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the iconic Eden Gardens on March 22. In the meantime, a significant change in the broadcast industry is likely to shake things up in the forthcoming season.

While Star Sports will continue to broadcast live action, free streaming is likely to come to an end. JioCinema has been streaming games for free since 2023, but with its parent company Viacom18 forming a joint entity with Star India, the free streaming model may be discontinued. This partnership has also led to the rebranding of Hotstar to JioHotstar.

A report claimed that the fans will now have to subscribe to stream the cash-rich league. It is said that free streaming will be allowed for a few days before it will be made mandatory to have a subscription to watch content. The new entity is expected to offer plans, starting at INR 149, and an ad-free version will be available for INR 449 for three months.

The broadcasters are yet to comment on the matter. Previously, JioCinema too had a subscription-based model but IPL was made free for the viewers. It is currently unclear whether the same model will be followed or they will move back to the subscription-based model, that was in place before the 2023 edition, when Hotstar had the live-streaming rights.

Notably, Viacom18 won the digital rights for a whopping INR 20,500 crore ahead of the IPL 2023 season. Star India managed to retain the TV rights for INR 23,575 crore. When it comes to the Women’s Premier League (WPL), Viacom 18 has both the TV and digital rights but the action will be live on Star Sports and JioHotstar.