The International Hockey Federation (FIH) governing body has announced a media rights agreement with Indian broadcaster Viacom18.

The agreement runs for a four-year cycle from 2023 to 2027, covering all FIH events except for the Nations Cup tournament.

This includes the upcoming FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers from January 13 to 21, as well as the inaugural FIH Hockey5s World Cup, the FIH Hockey Pro League, and the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup.

Matches will be available to watch on OTT platform JioCinema and Viacom18’s linear channels Network Sports18.

Viacom18 Sports’ head of strategy, partnerships, and acquisitions, Hursh Shrivastava, said: “Hockey has been one of the most loved, followed and storied sports in India. The recent success of the Indian Men’s and Women’s National Team bodes well for the continuous growth of Hockey, and we are excited to bring unbridled access to millions of sports fans in India.

“The addition of world-class hockey coverage reiterates our commitment to provide fans all-inclusive offerings of globally-acclaimed sports events.”

FIH president Tayyab Ikram added: “As we’re enhancing our commercial and broadcast approach, this agreement with Viacom18 is a major step forward.

“It’s a great support to be partnering with such a strong broadcaster in a country where hockey is so fundamentally and historically anchored, and where we continuously want to develop the game. On behalf of FIH, I would like to thank Viacom18 for joining our efforts to promote hockey in India even further.”

In addition to having the rights for the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers, Viacom18 secured exclusive rights across the Indian subcontinent to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris through a deal with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in December 2022.

The agreement covers India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile the FIH has this month also announced media rights agreements with UK public broadcaster the BBC and US national network CBS covering the Olympic qualifiers.