The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has encountered a setback in its efforts to secure international media rights.
The latest bid for these rights only reached half of the value of the previous bid that was canceled.
The PCB had set a reserve price of approximately $21 million for the three-year international media rights, but this amount proved too high.
A bidding consortium, including a Pakistani media group and a private company, along with international bidders Willow and Sports Five, participated in the process.
Sports Five submitted the highest bid at $7.8 million.
The Pakistani consortium offered around $4.1 million, while Willow bid $2.25 million.
When the reserve price was not met, the PCB called for a second round of bidding, during which the Pakistani consortium increased its bid to $7.85 million.
However, this bid was also rejected as it still fell short of the reserve price.
Subsequently, a new tender was issued for the home series against New Zealand and the women’s series against the West Indies.
In this round, the Pakistani companies bid $99,000 (approximately Rs 27.6 million), Willow offered $75,000, and Sports Five bid $50,000.
The PCB has recently launched another attempt to sell international media rights for the period from 2024 to 2026.
During this period, Pakistan is scheduled to play 61 matches, including 11 Tests, 26 ODIs, and 24 T20Is.
Despite these efforts, the PCB’s expectations were not met, with the highest bid amounting to only half of the previously rejected offer.
