Beginning September 1, ESPN+ will serve as the new U.S. streaming home for live cricket events from the VIVO IPL, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, and BCCI home tours for the India national team. Hotstar Specials and select Bollywood content will also be available on Hulu beginning September 1, with thousands of additional movies and series episodes to be added in the future.
- The move from Hotstar, a premium brand for South Asian content, to ESPN+ and Hulu in the U.S. expands upon the rich and diverse catalog of live events and stories delivered across The Disney Bundle and provides a platform for South Asian content to reach broader audiences.
Cricket coming to ESPN+
- VIVO IPL 2021, the world’s most popular T20 cricket league, will resume its 14th season on Sunday, September 19, on ESPN+ in the U.S. when the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians meet in Dubai.
- The match will be the first of the remaining IPL matches (more than 30) in the 2021 schedule, all available on ESPN+.
- In addition to the league stage, ESPN+ will stream live the 1st Qualifier, Eliminator and Qualifier 2 matches, as well as the VIVO IPL 2021 Final on Friday, October 15, in Dubai. In 2022, all 62 matches of the IPL season will stream live on ESPN+ beginning in March.
- ESPN+ will also deliver all matches (a total of 48) of the entire ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 tournament beginning Sunday, October 17, live from Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
- Additionally, BCCI home tours for the India national team will include the upcoming tours by South Africa and New Zealand later this year.
- Together, these events add to the growing cricket lineup on ESPN+, including 100+ Cricket New Zealand matches over the next six years and 100+ West Indies Cricket matches over the next five years against top teams like India, England, and others.
Hotstar Specials Coming to Hulu
- Additionally, thousands of the biggest Bollywood blockbusters and shows will be made available on Hulu. Beginning September 1, this includes popular Hotstar Specials including:
- The Empire – a fiction saga mounted on an unrivaled scale that brings together India’s finest talent, spectacular visuals, and a gripping narrative, based on “Empire of the Moghul: Raiders from the North” by Alex Rutherford
- City of Dreams – a political drama starring Atul Kulkarni, Priya Bapat, Eijaz Khan, and Sachin Pilgaonkar
- The Legend of Hanuman – a 13-episode live animation series with voice by Actor Sharad Kelkar
- Aarya – a powerful series featuring a story of crime, family and survival that stars former Miss Universe and actress Sushmita Sen
- Special Ops – the story of a 19-year hunt for the terrorist behind the biggest attacks in India featuring an ensemble series cast including Kay Kay Menon, Divya Dutta, Vinay Pathak, Karan Tacker, Sajjad Delafrooze, Sana Khaan, Saiyami Kher, Meher Vij, Vipul Gupta, and Muzammil Ibrahim, amongst others
- The Office – set in Faridabad (India), the show is the official Indian adaptation of the international hit comedy series that chronicles the 9-to-5 lives of the employees at Wilkins Chawla as they navigate through their mundane routine that invariably gives rise to comical situations
- Other series that will be made available to all Hulu subscribers include:
- November Story
- OK Computer
- Live Telecast
- Hostages
- Out of Love
- Collectively, the addition of VIVO IPL, the ICC World Cup events and BCCI home tours, as well as select Hotstar Specials, films and television shows, delivers greater value to subscribers of The Disney Bundle through a comprehensive, one-stop streaming offer for one of the largest collections of live and on-demand entertainment and sports content from some of the biggest brands and franchises in the world.
Sign up for Disney+ or the Disney Streaming Bundle (Disney+, ESPN+, and ad-supported Hulu) now