The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) suffered a major setback in its home international season on Friday (August 23). Cricket in the country suffered a major slump as the governing body sold the broadcasting rights of international home matches for almost half of the reserve price.
The rights to broadcast international home games in the country from August 2024 to December 2026 have been sold for PKR 1.72 billion. The rights sale rate was less than the initial reserve price of PKR 3.2 billion that the governing body had kept for the rights sale.
With big names like Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizvan the team was expected to witness a huge increase in broadcast rights. However, this was not the case as the rights were sold at a very low price, which could have caused problems for PCB.
However, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official, while talking to PTI, claimed that the rights were sold for double the amount of the previous rights period (FTP 2021 to 2024). It is learned that the governing body has sold the broadcasting rights of the Pakistan region for a period of 28 months.
They have reportedly sold the rights to ARY and Tower Sports and claimed that the contract fetched a higher sum than the previous contract. The governing body said the rights were awarded “following a transparent tender process” that included several bids.
The broadcast rights for the National Cricket Team’s games over 28 months include 11 Tests including seven, 26 ODIs and 24 T20Is in the 2024-25 season. It should be noted that the more than 50 games also include several tri-nation series in the current and next season.
The Pakistan Cricket Board is facing problems in generating expected revenues from broadcasting rights
It is also learned that the PCB is under pressure with no big profile foreign broadcaster showing interest in the international home season. They are reportedly having trouble getting the revenue they expect from broadcasting rights.
Reports claimed that Pakistan Television, a state-owned network, had offered only PKR 1.6 billion and was not interested in further offers. A source close to the PCB admitted that the offer was less than what they expected.
He noted: “This is far less than what PCB originally expected while keeping the reserve price at PKR 3.2 billion.”
Reports claimed that there was also concern over the Cricket Board not getting a broadcaster to show the Pakistan and England Test series in October-November. But they are confident that they will soon get a UK broadcaster for the series.
Currently, the Men in Green are locking horns with the Bangladesh National Cricket Team in a two-match Test series. The first match between the teams is being played at the Rawalpindi International Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi and the hosts are on a high.
