Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made a big compromise in the selling of broadcasting rights for the international home matches between August 2024 and December 2026.
According to a PTI report, the PCB has settled to sell the broadcasting rights for the Pakistan region for PKR 1.72 billion, which is at least PKR 1.48 billion less than the initial reserve price of PKR 3.2 billion the board kept for selling the rights.
However, the PCB officials, without divulging the details, claim that the rights were sold at more than twice the amount from the previous rights cycle (FTP 2021 to 2024).
The report further stated that the PCB sold its Pakistan region broadcasting rights for the 28-month period to a Pakistani consortium of ARY and Tower Sports and claimed to have sold it for a higher amount when compared with the last contract.
The PCB said that several bids were received as rights were awarded “following a transparent tender process”.
The broadcasting rights include 11 Tests, 26 ODIs and 24 T20Is. The ODIs include a couple of three-nation series in the current and next season.
No high-profile foreign broadcaster showing interest in the Pakistan international home season rights is an indication that the PCB is struggling to generate revenues expected from broadcasting rights.
As per the report, Pakistan Television, the state-owned network, made a bid of PKR 1.6 billion and didn’t bother to increase the amount.
“It is far less than initially what the PCB had anticipated while keeping its reserve price of PKR 3.2 billion,” a source aware of the developments quoted as saying by PTI.
Moreover, the PTV bought the broadcasting rights after securing the sub-licensing for PKR 500 million from the consortium. While the consortium and the PTV earned profitable deals, PCB failed to make the most of the jam-packed season financially.
The PCB is also struggling to attract a broadcaster in the UK to televise the Pakistan versus England Test series in October-November, with Sky Sports showing no interest at all in securing rights for the UK territory.
However, the PCB is confident that it will eventually find a broadcaster for the series in the UK with two months still remaining for the series.
(With PTI Inputs)
