iWorld
The Great Khali wrestles back into spotlight with Netflix’s WrestleMania promo
MUMBAI: The Great Khali, India’s wrestling giant, swapped bodyslams for selfies, tried his hand at reality TV, and even tested the waters of a mundane 9-to-5 job, but nothing quite packed a punch like his wrestling glory days. In Netflix’s latest WrestleMania promo—crafted by Mumbai agency One Hand Clap—the towering star humorously navigates life’s less-exciting pursuits, only to rediscover his passion when WrestleMania lands on Netflix.
Mixing warmth with gentle irony, the promo spotlights Khali’s softer, relatable side, cleverly contrasted against his imposing physique. One Hand Clap’s creative storytelling ensures the wrestling legend emerges both endearing and entertaining as he reconnects with his WWE roots.
One Hand Clap co-founder Naveed Manakkodan expressed his eagerness for future collaborations, “This is the third time we’ve worked with Khali, and all I can say is I can’t wait to work with him for the fourth time.”
One Hand Clap group creative manager Tarunark Vyas described the project’s intent, “The idea was about showing the human side of Khali — the gentle giant who needed a real spark to come alive again. WrestleMania gave us the perfect canvas to bring that story to life.”
This Netflix promo adds another vibrant feather to One Hand Clap’s creative cap, known for turning brand messaging into culturally relevant, impactful narratives. The agency’s deep grasp of India’s digital culture consistently delivers content that resonates powerfully with audiences.
Khali’s return to the ring—at least digitally—proves that while life’s daily grind might have its moments, nothing beats the thrill of the wrestling arena.
Gaming
India’s broadcasters say no to Fifa World Cup 2026
Fifa has slashed its asking price by 65 per cent but India’s broadcasters are still not buying
MUMBAI: The world’s biggest sporting event cannot find a single taker in the world’s most sports-mad nation. Fifa’s television rights for the 2026 World Cup remain unsold in India, and the clock is ticking loudly.
To shift the property, world football’s governing body has already swallowed hard and cut its asking price from $100m to $35m, bundling in the 2030 edition as a sweetener. It has not worked. Indian broadcasters have looked at the offer, done the sums and quietly walked away.
The reasons are brutally simple. The 2026 tournament, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, kicks off in a time zone that turns India’s primetime into a graveyard shift. Most matches will air between midnight and 7am IST, a scheduling catastrophe for advertisers chasing mass reach. The 2022 Qatar edition was a gift by comparison, with matches dropping neatly into Indian evenings. North America offers no such luxury.
The market itself has also changed beyond recognition. The merger of Star India and Viacom18 into JioStar has gutted the competitive tension that once sent sports rights prices soaring. Where rival bidders once slugged it out, there is now a single dominant buyer, and it is in no hurry. JioStar has valued the rights at roughly $25m, a full $10m below Fifa’s already-discounted floor price. That gap has so far proved unbridgeable.
Broadcasters are also nursing a ferocious cricket hangover. Between 2022 and 2023, Indian media houses committed well over $10bn to cricket rights alone, covering IPL, ICC events and BCCI domestic fixtures combined. After a binge of that scale, appetite for a football package that delivers a fraction of the ratings, in the dead of night, is close to zero.
The economics of football broadcasting make the maths even harder. Cricket, with its natural breaks every few overs, is an advertiser’s paradise. Football offers a 15-minute halftime and precious little else. Recovering a nine-figure rights fee from a single half-hour ad window is a stretch at the best of times. These are not the best of times: the Indian government’s tightening grip on real-money gaming and gambling advertising has vaporised a category that once underwrote the economics of big sporting events.
Nor is the World Cup an anomaly. Indian Super League valuations have cratered. English Premier League rights have softened across successive cycles. The cooling of football as a broadcast commodity in India is structural, not cyclical.
With the tournament opening on 11th June, Fifa is running out of road. It may yet blink and meet JioStar at $25m. Or it may go direct, streaming the entire tournament on its own platform, Fifa+, or cutting a digital deal with YouTube, and hoping that a generation of Indian football fans finds its way there without a broadcaster to guide them.
Either way, the beautiful game’s Indian chapter is looking decidedly ugly.
