By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) -All live sporting events streamed by the newly merged Disney-Reliance business in India, including popular Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket, will only be available on Disney's Hotstar app,

However, in 2022, Hotstar lost the IPL digital streaming rights to Viacom18, a Reliance-backed entity, in a high-profile bidding war. Viacom18 secured the IPL’s digital rights for the 2023-2027 cycle,

Reliance's JioCinema platform currently holds the streaming rights for IPL cricket, the Winter Olympics, and Indian Super League football, while Hotstar has the rights to International Cricket Council tournaments, English Premier League soccer, and the Pro Kabaddi League. The companies aim to complete the transition by January.

Disney and Reliance in February agreed a $8.5 billion merger of their media assets to create India's biggest entertainment company, with both together having 120 TV channels and two streaming apps

As Reliance-Disney India merger nears completion, the combined entity plans to keep Disney+ Hotstar as its sole streaming platform.

While Reliance's JioCinema currently streams IPL cricket, Hotstar holds rights to other prestigious events like the International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments, the English Premier League, and the Pro Kabaddi League.

Streaming of all live sporting events by the merged Disney-Reliance entity in India, including the popular Indian Premier League for cricket, will be done only on Disney's app, sources said, in the first major integration after the deal.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has opted to keep Disney+ Hotstar as its main streaming service, after the merger with Star India. The decision will see the integration of JioCinema into Disney+ Hotstar,