Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have announced the schedule for three Test match series against England which is scheduled to start from October 7 and the first match will be played at Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan. With just less than a month remaining for the series, the PCB are unable to find a partner for the media rights and this could result in a significant financial loss and prevent fans from other countries from watching the game.
Earlier, during the Bangladesh vs Pakistan two-Test match series PCB were unable to get the media rights which resulted in no broadcasting outside Pakistan.
"The PCB had initially set an ambitious reserve price of approximately $21 million for a three-year international media rights deal, but no bid came close to meeting this figure. The highest offer came from the foreign company Sports Five, which bid $7.8 million. A joint bid from two Pakistani companies amounted to around $4.1 million, while Willow TV offered $2.25 million. All bids were rejected as they fell short of the reserve price" reported Pakistan Cricket.
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To address the situation, the PCB initiated a re-tendering process specifically for the home series against New Zealand and the women’s series against the West Indies. Ultimately, a joint bid from two Pakistani companies, totalling just $99,000, was accepted as the winning offer.
As per Cricket Pakistan sources indicate that with time running out, the PCB may be forced to sell the rights at a significantly lower price to avoid a blackout in the UK.
The current situation not only threatens the viewership of the series but could also result in a substantial financial hit for the PCB, raising concerns over the management of media rights deals in the future. PCB are currently facing their lowest in terms of performance they have lost a Test series against Bangladesh for the first time and they suffered their biggest loss in the T20 World Cup 2024 against a non-Test playing nation United States.
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