Reliance’s ICC Rights Collapse Shows the One Thing Money Can’t Buy: Strategy

AltG warned in April 2023 that buying cricket rights without a bundling strategy would destroy value. Today, that warning has come true.

Reliance Industries’ subsidiary JioStar pulling out of its ICC media-rights deal — after incurring deep financial losses — is more than a business setback. It is a moment of strategic reckoning for India’s largest conglomerate.

In April 2023, AltG published an analysis (“Reliance’s Next $30 Billion Market Cap”) predicting precisely this outcome. Our argument was simple:

• Buying ICC rights in isolation was a value trap.

• The economics of sports broadcasting only work when you bundle rights, distribution, and monetisation flywheels.

• Without bundling IPL + ICC + platform economics, the standalone ICC acquisition would become “an albatross around their neck.”

That prediction has now played out exactly.

Reliance’s ICC Rights - Why This Matters Now

The collapse of the ICC deal exposes a deeper vulnerability inside India’s media landscape:

1. Content isn’t a moat unless it’s bundled.

2. Sports rights without a monetisation flywheel bleed cash—even for giants.

3. The streaming war in India has shifted from “buying rights” to “building ecosystems.”

This story is no longer about a single contract. It is about the limits of scale, the end of the rights-bidding bubble, and the emergence of a more disciplined media strategy era — one AltG has consistently predicted.

Disclaimer: In the article "Reliance’s ICC Rights Collapse Shows the One Thing Money Can’t Buy: Strategy" above - Any views, comments or communication (above or in the past) should not be construed to be investment advice by Alternative Growth (hereafter referred to as “AltG”) in any form whatsoever. AltG does not make an offer to sell or solicit to buy any securities.