Image Credit- Getty
The Pakistan Cricket Board (Pakistan) and English cricket fans are still waiting on a contract to guarantee television broadcast rights for Pakistan’s October home series against England. A PCB official admitted that the initial reserve price offered for the series was high and that it was not surprising that broadcasters did not enter into negotiations in a market where interest in bilateral cricket is dwindling.
The PCB considers any talk of a UK blackout to be alarmist and is still optimistic that a deal can be done, despite the Guardian’s report on Thursday indicating that Sky and TNT Sport had not expressed much interest in purchasing the rights. Officials from a broadcast business we spoke with, however, privately expressed concerns about whether the board’s techniques for obtaining broadcasting rights are maximising the financial potential of these agreements.
The PCB was forced to accept a valuation for domestic rights for home series from August 2024 to December 2026 that was more than a billion Pakistani rupees less than its reserve price. The board’s price is reported to have been around PKR 3.1 billion (USD 11.2 million). Although the exact broadcast figures were not disclosed, it is thought that they ultimately had to accept a payment of between USD 6 and 6.5 million.
At the time of the announcement, the PCB noted that the domestic rights had sold for twice as much as they had in the previous two-year cycle. In contrast, the ICC was able to sell its rights in Pakistan for a sum that was likely multiple times that amount—roughly USD 25 million. Six ICC tournaments in 2024 and 2025 will be televised by PTV and Tower Sports: the World Test Championship final in 2025, the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, the Men’s and Women’s T20 World Cups in 2024, and the Women’s Cricket World Cup.
A PCB official stated that as several India-Pakistan matchups are guaranteed throughout ICC events, straight comparisons between ICC rights and domestic rights are not applicable. Additionally, Pakistan is still the only significant cricketing nation that is denied the opportunity to play India in bilateral series, which inevitably results in those rights being valued less than they otherwise would be.
Two years after being the first team to completely eradicate Pakistan in the nation, England is scheduled to play three Test matches in Pakistan in October. Radio broadcasting rights for the tour have been acquired by the BBC, but as of right now, an agreement that ensures supporters of England cricket will be able to watch them try to replicate the feat is still elusive.