In the midst of the dubious Sony merger, Zee Entertainment mishandles paying Disney $200 million for cricket TV rights.

When Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited failed to pay Walt Disney Co.’s India division $200 million for the broadcast rights to cricket matches, it dealt a serious blow to its cricketing ambitions.

According to people with knowledge of the situation, Zee skipped the installment that was supposed to be released in early January owing to financial difficulties, which prompted Disney to inquire further.

The large sum of $1.4 billion that Zee agreed to pay in the license agreement signed in August 2022 for the TV rights to International Cricket Council men’s matches in India until 2027 includes this missed payment. However, the media behemoth from Mumbai could not supply the bank guarantees needed for this payment, which raised questions about possible legal problems.

This error occurs as Zee continues to battle the impending failure of its massive merger with Sony Group Corp. Previous reports from Bloomberg News said that Sony intended to give Zee a notice to terminate the transaction, but Zee insisted on carrying out further attempts to complete the merger. Beyond only financial difficulties, this failure raises questions about possible legal ramifications for Zee. In addition to the company’s current difficulties amid the anticipated merger fallout, the inability to meet the payment deadline might result in legal repercussions.

Shares of Zee Entertainment sharply decline

It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of these TV rights, particularly in a country like India where more than 1.4 billion people are passionate about cricket. Zee Entertainment saw this default to be a major setback to their strategic goals because they relied on these rights to increase their viewership and draw in more advertising.

This missed payment had a significant impact on the stock market, as Zee’s shares fell by as much as 14% before slightly rising again. The company’s shares were 7.7% down in Mumbai as of the most recent update, going against the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex’s rising trend.