IndianOil UTT signs three-year broadcast deal with JioStar

New Delhi: IndianOil Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) entered into a three-year agreement with sports broadcaster JioStar to expand the reach of the sport in India. As the Official Broadcast and Streaming Partner, JioStar is set to provide live, multilingual coverage of the league across television and digital platforms until 2027.

Season 6 of IndianOil UTT is scheduled to be aired on Star Sports 2, Star Sports Khel, and Star Sports Tamil, with digital streaming on JioHotstar in English, Hindi, and Tamil. The collaboration aimed to widen audience access and support the development of the sport through increased visibility.

The upcoming season will feature Indian players including Diya Chitale, Payas Jain, Ankur Bhattacharjee and Yashaswini Ghorpade, alongside international names such as Aruna Quadri, Alvaro Robles, Bernadette Szocs, Adriana Diaz and Fan Siqi. The Indian contingent also includes Olympians Manika Batra, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Harmeet Desai, and Sreeja Akula.

Held under the aegis of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), and promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani, IndianOil UTT has grown into a regular fixture in the global table tennis calendar. In 2024, the league recorded 20 million viewers across television and OTT platforms, representing a 1.3x increase from the previous year.

Commenting on the partnership, IndianOil UTT co-promoters Vita Dani and Niraj Bajaj said: “Over the past few years, Indian table tennis has made meaningful strides, and IndianOil UTT’s mission has been to accelerate that progress by providing a world-class platform for homegrown talent. Our partnership with JioStar for the next three seasons will help us deepen that impact by reaching more households, engaging new audiences, and laying a stronger foundation for the next generation of Indian table tennis stars.”

As part of the run-up to Season 6, IndianOil UTT and JioStar scheduled pre-season coverage from 12 May, featuring team insights and player profiles.

This season will see 48 players compete across eight franchises: Ahmedabad SG Pipers, Chennai Lions, Dabang Delhi TTC, Dempo Goa Challengers TT, Jaipur Patriots, Kolkata ThunderBlades, PBG Pune Jaguars, and U Mumba TT. Defending champions Dempo Goa Challengers, led by Harmeet Desai, are aiming for a third consecutive title.