JioStar is stepping up its Premier League strategy ahead of the 2026-27 season with the launch of ‘Humara Long Distance Love’, a new campaign celebrating the emotional connection between Indian fans and football clubs from across the world.
Featuring Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff and Indian cricketers Riyan Parag and Sanju Samson, the campaign uses the idea of a long-distance relationship to capture the loyalty, sacrifices and late-night commitments associated with following the Premier League from India.
The three-film campaign brings the celebrities’ personal club allegiances into focus. Shroff and Parag feature as Manchester United supporters, while Samson represents Liverpool. The films use familiar relationship situations to portray the emotional highs and lows of supporting a football club thousands of kilometres away.
Sharing his thoughts on the campaign, Tiger Shroff said, “Being a football fan teaches you that you don’t just support a club when it’s winning—you stand by it through every high and every low. That kind of loyalty is something I genuinely relate to. As fans, we invest so much emotionally, and every Premier League supporter in India knows exactly what that journey feels like. I think JioStar’s campaign captures that passion and commitment beautifully.”
Sanju Samson added, “As a cricketer, I am always travelling, always on the road, and yet no matter where I am in the world, Liverpool’s matches are non-negotiable. That is what it means to be a die-hard fan. The distance and sacrifices are real, but so is the love. I am glad this campaign gives that feeling a voice, because millions of Indian fans live it every single week and it is something worth celebrating.”
Riyan Parag continued, “I’ve been a Manchester United fan for as long as I can remember, and honestly, it’s the very definition of a long-distance relationship. The early mornings, the hope, the heartbreak, and yet you never stop showing up. That’s what this film is about, and I think every Premier League fan in India is going to recognise their own story in it. That passion is real, and it deserves to be celebrated.”
Prashant Khanna, Head – Sports: Rights & Innovation, JioStar, shared, “The Premier League has one of the most passionate and deeply invested fan bases in India, and what has always fascinated us is how organically this fandom has grown. Nobody told these fans which club to support. They found their club, fell in love with it, and have remained devoted to it through the late nights, early mornings, the heartbreak, and everything in between. ‘Humara Long Distance Love’ is a celebration of that devotion and a tribute to the millions of Indian fans who live this journey every single week. As the new season begins, this campaign is our way of recognising that passion and celebrating the fans who have made the Premier League a part of their lives.”
The campaign arrives against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding Premier League audience in India. The competition now has more than 144.5 million followers in the country, according to the Premier League, while a recent JioStar-Nielsen study found that JioStar’s combined television and digital reach for the property has grown 2.4 times over the past five years. Indian viewers consumed around 9.04 billion minutes of Premier League content on JioStar during the 2025-26 season.
The 2026-27 campaign begins on August 21, with the reigning champions, Arsenal, hosting newly promoted Coventry City in the opening fixture. The season will feature all 380 matches, with the final round scheduled for May 30, 2027.
JioStar holds the Premier League rights in India as part of the current South Asian rights cycle and will distribute the competition across its television and digital platforms.
For JioStar, ‘Humara Long Distance Love’ represents a broader effort to build the Premier League as an entertainment and commercial property around fandom rather than simply match coverage. With an increasingly large, digitally engaged and geographically diverse Indian audience, the campaign positions Premier League fandom as a cultural phenomenon that extends well beyond the 90 minutes of football on the pitch.
