“Let the game begin”: Unite8 Sports chief Bavesh Janavlekar on Zee’s most ambitious sports play yet

MUMBAI: Baavesh Janavlekar is not nervous. Days before the FIFA World Cup 2026 kicks off on June 11, the chief business officer of Unite8 Sports, the sports network newly launched by Zee Entertainment, sounds like a man who has done his homework and is ready to play. “Let the game begin,” he says, and means it.

Unite8 Sports, which has received Ministry of Information and Broadcasting approval for four channels, Unite8 Sports 1, Unite8 Sports 1 HD, Unite8 Sports 2 and Unite8 Sports 2 HD, is Zee’s most significant push into sports broadcasting in years. Its anchor property is an eight-year, 39-event partnership with FIFA, a deal that gives the network what Janavlekar describes as “a decade of football relevance in India.”

“Unite8 Sports will be a curated offering, delivering world-class experiences along with sports which are rooted in our culture,” he says. “There will be a right balance of international sports that work in India and our homegrown sports like wrestling, kabaddi and boxing. One of the reasons the sports business is called Unite8 is because it is going to unite the international and the national.”

The numbers justify the ambition. During the last FIFA World Cup, India ranked among the top ten countries globally for viewership. Sixteen million people watched across linear and digital platforms, with 30 million regular football watchers in the country. “These are all huge numbers,” Janavlekar says, “and we intend to leverage that, not only in terms of viewership but in building a football ecosystem alongside FIFA. The FIFA World Cup becomes an anchor IP for us to structure an entire sports offering around.”

The most pressing challenge for advertisers is one of geography. Because the 2026 World Cup is hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico, the bulk of matches will air between midnight and 4:30am IST. Only a handful kick off at civilised hours. For a broadcaster trying to sell premium inventory, this is a structural problem. Janavlekar, however, reframes it as an “opportunity”.

“The timings are actually working in our favour,” he says. “The live coverage as well as the catch-up programming that we are developing unlocks a dual consumption curve.” The strategy is built around what he calls the “catch-up economy”: highlights, explainers and social clips that are, in his words, “massively monetisable across brands.” Advertisers, he says, are responding strongly. “We are witnessing very strong advertiser interest across categories with a complete package across linear and digital. It is a very strong advertising engine and we are confident about the team’s ability to unlock the potential of FIFA World Cup as the greatest spectacle on earth.”

The editorial pitch to audiences extends beyond the sporting spectacle itself. Janavlekar is leaning into the narrative that this could be the last World Cup for Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar. “Those nuances, the fact that this could be the last World Cup for these iconic players, that is the reason social media has gone into overdrive since the time it got unleashed. The response has been very, very positive, not only from audiences but also from advertisers. We are happy with it and we hope to close the sales deals soon.”

On the language front, Unite8 Sports will carry Hindi and English feeds across its four channels. Beyond that, Janavlekar confirms that Malayalam and Bengali commentary will also be available for the World Cup. “Over a period of time, as we keep adding sports IPs and regional IPs to our portfolio, we will definitely be looking at more channels getting launched,” he says.

Asked about technology and artificial intelligence, Janavlekar is measured but pointed. “AI can write a story, make a film, and do a lot of things. But until AI can play sports, you will have sports as a very unique proposition to sustain for many, many more years.” Technology will play a growing role as Unite8 develops, he says, but the focus right now is on getting the foundations right. “Through this property, a lot of AI integration will happen for us as well. But right now we are going to take slow steps as we settle down on curating the right properties.”

His philosophy for the long game is equally clear: avoid bidding wars, stay financially disciplined, and build steadily. “We strongly believe that if we avoid the bidding wars and remain very financially disciplined, as we are committed to all our stakeholders, we intend to play a long game in the sports business.”

He signs off with a marketing analogy from his MBA days. Hertz, the car rental company, once ran a famous campaign built around a simple admission: we are number two, we try harder. Janavlekar sees Unite8 Sports in the same light. “I suppose when it comes to us, it is going to be like that,” he says. “We are going to try very, very hard to build an entirely new sports ecosystem in India, which the audience, and more than the audience, the sports people of this country actually deserve. We have world-class winning sporting heroes in this country who get underleveraged, and we intend to stand by them.”

The game, it seems, is very much about to begin.