Digital content on IPL may soon be a paid service

Cricket is religion in India, and it is not an exaggeration. Out of home, or out of office, it doesn't stop an average Indian from missing out on some cricket masala, and they would exploit every possible medium--be it TV at home or at a electronics shop, Internet, or even the radio--to stay updated about the cricket matches.

According to studies, Indians subscribe to cricket updates and notifications the most. And with very few restrictions on content available online and on mobile, the average Indian out there has plenty to choose from. The Indian Premier League and Star India provided free of cost access to content, both online and on mobile. However, sourcing of sports content over the Internet may get a tad bit difficult in the coming days.

With the success of digital content on IPL digitally, Star plans to monetize the format by putting a paywall model in place, Live Mint reports. So in coming days, not every content related to IPL would be free of cost. One will have to shell out money to have access to any IPL-related content on web or on mobile.

Although the paywall model in India as a concept is still at a nascent stage, Star is confident that the decision will pay off, since Indians will do anything to get access to content on cricket. However, there is a lot of free content of all kinds available on the net, as well as on mobile. It remains to be seen that how a paywall model would be able to create a market share.

The IPL cricket series is one of the most successful associations Star, who have a digital viewership of over 100 million on the Hotstar mobile app alone.