With no consortium allowed to bid for the rights the state-owned Pakistan Television Corporation won with a low bid of 350 million, which is much lower than the reserve price set at 600 million rupees by the Board. Because only the state broadcaster PTV made the bid, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was forced to sell its broadcasting rights for 25 international home matches at around half of the reserve price.
A reliable source said that the PCB had issued a tender a few days back for the broadcasting rights with a reserve price but didn’t allow interested parties to bid as a consortium as has happened in the recent past.
With no consortium allowed to bid for the rights the state-owned Pakistan Television Corporation won with a low bid of 350 million, which is much lower than the reserve price set at 600 million rupees by the Board.
The latest broadcasting agreement includes 25 home matches including five Tests, 14 ODIs and six T20Is. For now the broadcasting rights sold by the PCB include three T20 internationals against Ireland in January 2027 followed by a seven match triangular series involving Ireland and Zimbabwe.
“The problem is that the performance of the national teams have been below par in recent times and sponsors and advertisers for now are aloof,” the source said. Pakistan are scheduled to play three T20Is against Sri Lanka this month, followed by a seven-match triangular ODI series involving England. Two Tests against Sri Lanka are scheduled for the next month.
Even when the Pakistan Super League’s 11th edition was held earlier this year with two new teams, the PCB didn’t get required response for the broadcasting rights. In fact one broadcaster who brought last year’s rights to the PSL still owes the board in billions.
