New Delhi. On one hand, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is making crores of rupees by selling broadcasting rights. On the other hand, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is not even able to get the reserve price for this. PCB has received only half the amount of the reserve price for selling the broadcasting rights of international domestic matches for about two and a half years. PCB has sold these rights for the period from August 2024 to December 2026.
The broadcasting rights for the Pakistan region have been sold for 1.72 billion Pakistani rupees. This is about 1.48 billion less than the reserve price of Rs 3.2 billion kept by the PCB for selling the rights. PCB officials, however, have claimed without sharing any figures that these broadcasting rights have been sold at more than double the price of the previous cycle (2021 to 2024). These broadcasting rights are for 11 Tests, including seven Tests of the 2024-25 season, as well as 26 ODIs and 24 T20 Internationals. ODIs include some bilateral series and some tri-series.
According to media reports, the PCB recently sold its Pakistan region broadcasting rights to a consortium of ARY and Tower Sports for a period of 28 months and claimed that it was sold for a higher amount than the previous contract. The PCB said that the rights were awarded ‘following a transparent tender process’ in which several bids were received.
The fact is that no major foreign broadcaster has shown interest in the rights for Pakistan’s international domestic season. This is an indication that the PCB is facing problems in getting the expected revenue from broadcast rights. Even the state-owned network, Pakistan Television (PTV), bid Rs 1.6 billion and did not bother to increase the amount.
A PCB source said, “This is much less than what the PCB had estimated when it set its reserve price at 3.2 billion Pakistani rupees.” In addition, PTV has struck a deal with the broadcasting rights consortium to share the rights for Rs 500 million. The PCB is now finding it difficult to find a broadcaster in England for the Pakistan and England Test series in October-November. Major broadcaster Sky Sports is not showing interest in acquiring the rights. (input language)
Tags: Pakistan cricket, Pakistan Cricket Board
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 23, 2024, 20:43 IST
