The Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) broadcasting rights were auctioned off for an astounding 6.3 billion rupees, a significant increase of 2 billion rupees over the previous agreement. A private TV station beat out three other bidders in the competitive bid for these rights. Financial bids with a reserve price of Rs. 7.358 billion were invited yesterday.
During the initial bidding round, the previous rights holder channel proposed a bid of Rs. 5.30 billion, 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. However, none of the bidders could match the reserve price, leading to a second round of bidding.
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 a total of Rs. 6.30 billion. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has approved this deal, with 95% of the proceeds directed towards the PSL franchises. Consequently, the franchises stand to receive over Rs. 3 billion annually. Additionally, digital rights were separately acquired for Rs. 1.85 billion.
It must be noted that the PCB exclusively permitted companies with their own sports channels or acquired rights from another channel to participate in the bidding process, resulting in four channels vying for the rights. In the event that the reserve price was not met, the PCB retained the authority to reconsider the bids or postpone the entire process. However, a consensus was achieved after a substantial bid in the second round.
