In what can be described as a disappointing result, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reportedly sold the broadcasting rights for Pakistan's team’s 25 international home matches at around half of the reserve price, because only one broadcaster made the bid.

A source has revealed that PCB had floated the broadcast rights tender a few days ago with a set reserve price. However, they didn’t allow interested parties to come together and place the bid as a consortium, as it had happened in the past.

With no consortium allowed, the broadcasting rights went to the state-owned Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), which had bid 350 million Pakistani rupees (PKR), which was almost half of the PCB's expected 650 million PKR.

This latest broadcast deal involves 25 home games, which include five Tests, 14 ODIs, and six T20Is. The Pakistani team has upcoming T20Is in three matches against Sri Lanka at the end of this month, followed by an ODI tri-series also involving England consisting of seven matches. The next month, there will be two Tests against Sri Lanka.

"The problem is that the performance of the national teams has been below par in recent times, and sponsors and advertisers for now are aloof," the source said as per PTI.

The source added that since at least three broadcasters still owe money to the Board for previous deals they made as consortiums, the field of interested bidders has shrunk badly.

"These broadcasters who owe money were not barred from participating in the bidding process; they chose not to take part. A company that has acquired most of Pakistan cricket's rights in the past also showed no interest," the source added.

The current broadcast rights sold by PCB also include three T20Is against Ireland in January 2027, which is followed by seven T20I tri-series also featuring Zimbabwe.

However, as of now, Zimbabwe has indicated that they cannot travel to Pakistan for the tri-series because of their internal board issues.

Even though this year saw the start of the eleventh edition of the PSL as well as the addition of two new teams to the league, the PCB did not get the expected bids for the broadcasting rights of the PSL. In addition, the broadcaster that won the broadcasting rights for last year’s PSL still owes billions of dollars to the board.

(PTI inputs)