2025 IPL - Lucknow Super Giants v Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Jitesh Sharma plays a shot during 2025 IPL match at Ekana Cricket Stadium on May 27, 2025 (Surjeet Yadav/Getty Images)

Cricket has helped power an Indian streaming platform to 280 million subscribers

After launching in February, Disney-Reliance-owned JioHotstar’s subscriber numbers have exploded, rivaling that of Netflix.

Claire Yubin Oh

5/28/25 8:00AM

For years, Netflix has led the streaming world order, churning out global, local, and increasingly live sports content to swell its subscriber base to more than 300 million.

But while Netflix has left many of its Western rivals in the dust, India’s JioHotstar is suddenly lurking in second place, with India’s favorite streaming platform racking up more than 280 million subscribers in recent months, per the Financial Times, thanks in part to its broadcasting rights for the world’s most popular cricket league.

Born out of the $8.5 billion megamerger last year between Disney India’s Hotstar platform and JioCinema, a streamer owned by the Indian media giant Reliance, JioHotstar currently owns both the digital and television rights for the Indian Premier League. Before the merger, IPL matches used to be freely accessible on Reliance’s Jio platforms, but since then cricket fans have had no choice but to subscribe to JioHotstar’s services, driving hundreds of millions of fans to commit to the new platform in the span of some four months.

JiHotStar has 280M subscribers — Sherwood News

Testing the boundaries

Home to ~1.4 billion people — many of whom are cricket fanatics — the world’s most populous country was always going to be fertile ground for growing the audience of a new cricket competition. But since its founding in 2007, the quick-fire Twenty20 format has bowled audiences over, quickly making the IPL the most-watched cricket competition.

With such a huge audience, the money has come flooding in. Investment bank Jeffries estimated after the merger last year that JioStar, which owns the JioHotstar platform, will have a 40% share of the total Indian advertising market in TV and streaming.

But that dominance comes with a cost. Despite its huge customer base, subscriptions aren’t as valuable as in other regions, with some packages starting from just $0.60 a month, the FT reported. That’s not a huge sum to pay back the $6.2 billion that broadcasters’ have spent on the high-stake cricket rights, let alone profit from the massive investment. Retaining cricket fans after the IPL season, which ends on June 3, is an even bigger task.

Max Knoblauch5h

Electronic Arts launches a platform to put more ads in its games

Video game publishing giant EA launched a new platform on Monday designed to make the process of selling immersive ad space in its popular games easier.

The company says the platform, called EA Advertising, allows brands to “integrate directly into gameplay through dynamic, real-time placements, from stadium signage to custom in-game content.”

More so than other studios, EA has incorporated advertising into its most popular titles. As Kotaku points out, the company’s ad efforts stretch as far back as 2006. Several of its sports franchises already feature partnerships with brands like Visa, Lowe’s, Red Bull, and PepsiCo.

In-game advertising hasn’t exactly been embraced by fans, but industry experts expect it to ramp up as companies seek more revenue to offset higher games budgets and surging memory costs. EA rival Take-Two has taken a different approach, with CEO Strauss Zelnick recently saying the company was “not at risk of doing brand partnerships” in the forthcoming “Grand Theft Auto VI,” and that ads in full-price games seems “unfair.”

The $55 billion deal to take EA private, led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is set to close at the end of this month. Being the largest leveraged buyout in history, EA will likely look for more ways to boost revenue to cover interest payments.

Electronic Arts Makes Push for Ad Dollars Tied to Sports

Millie Giles6/11/26

JM Smucker says it sold $1 billion worth of Uncrustables in FY2026

After years of booming sandwich sales, JM Smucker has finally earned a billion-dollar crust.

On Tuesday, the company reported results for fiscal year 2026, highlighting better-than-expected profits driven by higher prices for coffee and sweet baked goods. However, at another point on the earnings call, CEO Mark Smucker pointed to one particularly jammy figure: in line with previous forecasts, the company sold $1 billion worth of its (almost always) crustless sandwiches, Uncrustables, in the last year alone.

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

Paramount reportedly offers concessions to resolve multistate antitrust investigation

Paramount has reportedly offered up some concessions in an effort to prevent an antitrust lawsuit by California and about 10 other states, according to Bloomberg reporting on Monday.

Reuters first reported on the potential suit from a group of unnamed states last week, which could throw a wrench in Paramount’s plans to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood megamerger.

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

Paramount Offers Concessions to Head Off State Antitrust Lawsuit

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

$98B ⛽

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

The IATA released its latest financial outlook for the airline industry over the weekend, forecasting a $98 billion jump in the sector’s collective fuel bill. The world’s largest trade group representing airlines expects the oil spike to halve profits by 49% from last year to $23 billion.

The group also expects profit margins to halve year over year, falling from 2025’s 4.2% to 2%. Still, revenue is expected to climb to $1.17 trillion from $1.07 trillion.

A surge in the cost of jet fuel has rocked US and global airlines this year, leading Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and others to raise fares and ancillary charges like bag fees. Low-cost carriers, which operate on smaller margins, have been squeezed the hardest, resulting in Spirit’s shutdown.

“It’s a tough year for all airlines, especially those whose balance sheets had not yet recovered from COVID. And, of course, for those operating in the Gulf,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, who added that demand is holding up and about half of passengers expect to spend more on travel this year. “That bodes well for a strong northern summer peak season. The big unknown is how long travelers and shippers can tolerate the higher costs of connectivity.”

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The Switch 2 launched on this day in 2025. Amid a rough year for consoles, Nintendo has logged a good one.

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