Dark clouds hang over Pakistan’s television broadcasting rights for bilateral series vs England in 2024

October will see England visit Pakistan for the red-ball series; it’s possible that broadcasters have not been interested in the tour. The locals’ waning interest in bilateral series in Pakistan is a cause for concern. Moving on from simply Pak, since no matches are being televised in the cricket-mad nation, the current Test series against Bangladesh has not attracted the attention of Indian broadcasters.

A PCB official reportedly told that after protracted discussions, the board had to accept only half of the high selling price it had originally proposed. Regarding the English broadcasters, the two dominant UK outlets, Sky and TNT Sport, are not enthusiastic about airing the forthcoming bilateral match.

PCB planned to broadcast international games played at home from August 2024 to December 2026 after reaching an agreement with the regional broadcasters in Pakistan. Before purportedly settling for USD 6-6.5 million, it quoted PKR 3.1 billion (USD 11.2 million).

The valuation that the Board was aiming for was less than its reserved price, at over one billion Pak rupees.

The open bid procedure allowed the broadcasters to bid with some flexibility, preventing them from going beyond the pre-agreed estimate. In the past, the corporations had to fight fiercely to submit a bid, uncertain of the predetermined amount they had decided upon, and ultimately had to spend. The rights were taken over by the Pakistani media company ARY, which runs a number of channels including A Sports and Tower Sports. Furthermore, Ten Sports Network is run by ARY as well.

Six international events are sold by the ICC to local broadcasters.

In February 2025, the Champions Trophy is slated to take place. The ICC was successful in securing a broadcast agreement with Tower Sports and PTV for six ICC events in 2024 and 2025. The ICC Champions Trophy, the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, the 2024 Men’s and Women’s T20 World Cups, the 2024 Women’s Cricket World Cup, and the 2025 World Test Championship final are among the events that will be covered.

The supreme international council has repeatedly surpassed those figures, thus the PCB’s assertion that it may sell the domestic right for twice the price of the preceding two years’ cycles is void. The amount that ICC has in the region is USD 25 million, which is significantly more than what PCB has stated.

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On the other hand, the official continued, saying that playing India primarily at ICC tournaments and not having a bilateral series against them has done more harm than good. Returning to the England series, the radio rights for the three-Test series have been taken over by the BBC.