Watching Sport in India
India is the one market on this site where some live sport is free by law. The Sports Broadcasting Signals Act of 2007 requires the holder of exclusive rights to a notified event of national importance to share the live feed with Prasar Bharati, which puts it on Doordarshan and All India Radio. That is why a country with the most expensive cricket rights in the world also has a free-to-air route to the big matches — and why the paid market around it is so large.
What changed recently.
- The must-share list was expanded on 11 June 2026. The Olympic, Commonwealth and Asian Games were retained, and the list now covers all official ODIs, T20Is and Tests involving India's men's and women's teams, ICC Tests involving India, the knockout rounds of the ICC men's and women's World Cups, the Champions Trophy, the World Test Championship, the Asia Cup from the Super Four onwards, plus named tennis, hockey, football, badminton and kabaddi events.
- JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar are now one service: JioHotstar. The merger completed on 14 February 2025 under JioStar, the Reliance-Disney joint venture, and JioHotstar is where the cricket rights now sit.
- JioHotstar raised its prices on 28 January 2026. The Premium annual plan went from INR 1,499 to INR 2,199. Subscribers on auto-pay keep their old rate while auto-pay stays active.
What you can watch free
The statutory list is the reason this section exists, and it is genuinely enforceable. Two caveats before you plan around it: the obligation is to share the feed with Prasar Bharati rather than to put every ball on a specific channel, and our reading of the June 2026 expansion comes from press reporting of the notification rather than the gazette text itself.
| Sport | Where it is free |
|---|---|
| India international cricket | Doordarshan. All official ODIs, T20Is and Tests involving India's men's and women's teams must be shared with Prasar Bharati, along with ICC Tests involving India and the knockout rounds of the ICC World Cups |
| Olympics, Commonwealth and Asian Games | Doordarshan, on the retained part of the list |
| Tennis | Every Davis Cup tie involving India and the Grand Slam singles finals |
| Hockey | India's World Cup matches and the tournament semi-finals and finals, the Champions Trophy, the FIH Pro League and Sultan Azlan Shah Cup ties involving India |
| Football | The FIFA World Cup opening match, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, and Asia Cup matches involving India |
| Badminton and kabaddi | The All England Open and BWF World Championships, and the Kabaddi World Cup, for Indian players' matches plus the semi-finals and finals |
| Everything on DD Sports | DD Sports and DD Sports HD are carried free-to-air on DD Free Dish, the state satellite service. No private sports channels are included, and no viewer fee is charged for the platform |
One warning about the free list: it is about the rights holder's obligation, not about a published schedule. If a match you want is not being shown, the answer is usually that the window is on All India Radio rather than on television.
How we define "free". Every option on this site is either a public broadcaster, a free ad-supported tier, an official free trial, or a rights-holder's own channel. We do not list or link to unlicensed rebroadcasts. Note that a VPN does not make a stream legal: reaching a service licensed for another country normally breaches that service's terms, and the bigger platforms actively block it.
The main services, and what they cost
Prices in rupees, dated September 2026. JioHotstar's figures come from two independent price trackers because hotstar.com geo-redirects; the SonyLIV figures are taken directly from its own subscription page.
| Service | Carries | From | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| JioHotstar Mobile | The cricket core: IPL, ICC events and India internationals, plus football and the rest of the library. One device, ad-supported, Hollywood not included | INR 79/month, INR 149 for three months, INR 499/year | None described |
| JioHotstar Super | The same, on up to two devices, with Hollywood included and up to 1080p | INR 149/month, INR 349 for three months, INR 1,099/year | None described |
| JioHotstar Premium | Up to four devices, up to 4K, ad-free except during live sport — the exception matters, because live cricket still carries ads | INR 299/month, INR 699 for three months, INR 2,199/year | None described |
| SonyLIV | The UEFA Champions League, the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal, UFC, the ISL and Super League Kerala, and cricket from the Asia Cup and the Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England boards. The Sony Sports channels are the linear side of the same business | LIV Premium INR 399/month or INR 1,499/year. A Mobile Only plan is INR 699/year at 720p on one device | None advertised |
| FanCode | LaLiga, the Saudi Pro League, the EFL Championship, the AFC Champions League, the Women's Super League, the Carabao Cup, selected ATP and WTA tournaments, the Presidents Cup, and Formula 1 and MotoGP on passes | Unlimited Livestream pass INR 199/month or INR 1,499/year. A single F1 race weekend is INR 99, an F1 season INR 899, and a motorsports pass INR 999 | None advertised |
| DD Sports | The must-share events listed above, plus domestic championships in hockey, athletics, swimming, badminton, archery and wrestling | Free | Not applicable |
| Prime Video India | We found no India-specific live sports rights documented in our research. Treat it as an entertainment subscription | INR 299/month or INR 1,499/year; Prime Lite is INR 799/year on one device | Not confirmed for India |
| ZEE5 | Lists FIFA World Cup 2026 editorial hubs but no live sports channels on its homepage | Unverified | Unverified |
Who shows what
- Cricket — the biggest property in the market, and JioHotstar has the bulk of it. The rights list reported at the time of the 2025 merger covers BCCI internationals to 2028, the IPL to 2027, ICC events, SA20, the Women's Premier League, Cricket Australia and the Big Bash, and Major League Cricket. Sony's cricket is the Asia Cup and series from the Sri Lankan, New Zealand and English boards. We have not re-verified every item on that list against a primary source, so treat it as a guide rather than a guarantee.
- Multi-language coverage — a distinctive part of the Indian market. For the ICC Men's T20 World Cup held in India, JioStar ran the linear side on Star Sports and the digital side on JioHotstar in five languages, with Bengali, Bhojpuri and Haryanvi added on digital and Marathi and Indian Sign Language for India's matches, the semi-finals and the final, with radio on All India Radio.
- Football — split three ways. JioHotstar carries the Premier League and the Indian Super League; SonyLIV has the Champions League, the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal and the ISL as well; FanCode has LaLiga, the Saudi Pro League, the EFL Championship, the Carabao Cup, the AFC Champions League and the Women's Super League. This is the one area where you may need two subscriptions rather than one.
- Formula 1 — FanCode, on a race-weekend or season pass.
- Tennis — FanCode has the ATP tournaments it lists; Wimbledon and the US Open are reported on JioHotstar. Grand Slam singles finals are on the must-share list, so they also reach Doordarshan.
- Hockey and kabaddi — FIH events and the Pro Kabaddi League are on JioHotstar, with the national-team events named on the free list.
- UFC — SonyLIV, in English and Hindi.
The cheapest legal routes
- Nothing at all: DD Sports for the must-share events. If you follow India's cricket team and nothing else, this is a real answer rather than a consolation prize.
- Cricket, cheapest paid: JioHotstar Mobile at INR 79/month. It is one device and it excludes Hollywood, but it covers the cricket.
- One competition: FanCode's passes. INR 99 for a single F1 weekend is the cheapest way into any motorsport in this market.
- Champions League or Bundesliga: SonyLIV at INR 399/month, which is more than double JioHotstar's Super tier — worth it only if those competitions are what you actually watch.
- Pick the right JioHotstar tier: Premium's ad-free promise does not extend to live sport. If you are buying it for cricket alone, the Super tier is the honest choice.
Can I watch India's cricket free?
Yes, for the events on the statutory list. The Sports Broadcasting Signals Act requires the rights holder to share the live feed with Prasar Bharati for Doordarshan and All India Radio, and the list was expanded on 11 June 2026 to cover all official ODIs, T20Is and Tests involving India's men's and women's teams. The obligation is to share the feed rather than to guarantee television coverage of every ball, so check the Doordarshan schedule.
Is JioHotstar the same as Disney+ Hotstar?
Yes. JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar were merged on 14 February 2025 into JioHotstar, run by JioStar, the Reliance-Disney joint venture. It is the successor to both services, and Disney+ Hotstar is no longer sold in India as a separate product.
Did JioHotstar prices go up?
Yes, effective 28 January 2026. The annual Super plan went from INR 899 to INR 1,099 and the annual Premium plan from INR 1,499 to INR 2,199. Existing auto-pay subscribers keep their old rate while auto-pay remains active. We read these figures from two independent price trackers because the official page geo-redirects, so confirm at signup.
Which service has the Champions League in India?
SonyLIV. The Sony Sports Ten 2 channel carries the UEFA Champions League, the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, and the same content is on SonyLIV at INR 399/month. Note that live sport still carries advertising on SonyLIV's premium tier.
Does Prime Video India show live sport?
We could not document any India-specific live sports rights, so we do not claim any. Prime Video is a major sports broadcaster in other markets — it is the T20 World Cup broadcaster in Australia, for instance — but that does not carry across to the Indian service.
Is there a free trial on JioHotstar or SonyLIV?
None that we could confirm. Neither service advertises a free trial, and the free access to cricket that JioHotstar has offered in the past has come through mobile bundles rather than through the streaming plans. Free cricket in India comes from Doordarshan, not from a trial.
Where to go next
Cricket coverage worldwide Free-to-air sport How the big services compare Watching sport in Australia