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A private TV channel has won the broadcasting rights for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) for a staggering 6.3 billion rupees, marking a significant increase of 2 billion rupees from the previous deal. The previous rights holder channel proposed a bid of Rs. 5.30 billion in the initial bidding round, while the state-owned TV channel and the remaining two competitors submitted bids of Rs. 5.17 billion, Rs. 4.40 billion, and Rs. 4 billion, respectively, all failing to meet the reserve price. However, the channel with the highest bid in the first round further increased its offer by one billion rupees in the second round, securing the broadcasting rights for the next two years at Rs. 6.30 billion.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has approved the deal, with 95% of the proceeds directed towards the PSL franchises, who stand to receive over Rs. 3 billion annually. In addition, digital rights were acquired for Rs. 1.85 billion. It is worth noting that only companies with their own sports channels or acquired rights from another channel were allowed to participate in the bidding, resulting in four channels vying for the rights. If the reserve price was not met, the PCB retained the authority to reconsider the bids or postpone the entire process.
The valuation of the media rights of PSL was conducted by the international company ‘Colganbauer’, which determined a value of 6 billion rupees before the bidding. PCB enlisted their services before the auction to ensure a fair and transparent process. This is a considerable increase in the broadcasting rights deal for PSL, as the reserve price for the previous contract was Rs. 3.7 billion, with the rights ultimately being sold for Rs. 4.3 billion for a two-year duration. Interestingly, the same entity has once again secured the broadcasting rights.
