PSL broadcasting rights fetch record Rs. 6.3 Billion in auction

The broadcasting rights for the Pakistan Super League  have been successfully auctioned for a substantial amount of 6.3 billion rupees, reflecting a noteworthy increase of 2 billion rupees compared to the previous agreement.

In a competitive bidding process, a private TV channel emerged as the victor among three other contenders. The financial bids were unveiled with a reserve price of Rs. 7.358 billion.

In the initial bidding round, the previous rights holder proposed a bid of Rs. 5.30 billion, while the state-owned TV channel and the other two competitors submitted bids of Rs. 5.17 billion, Rs. 4.40 billion, and Rs. 4 billion, respectively. As none of the bids met the reserve price, a second round of bidding ensued.

The channel with the highest bid in the first round augmented its offer by an additional 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  has given its approval to this deal, with 95% of the proceeds allocated to the PSL franchises.

Consequently, the franchises are set to receive over Rs. 3 billion annually. Additionally, digital rights were independently acquired for Rs. 1.85 billion.

It is noteworthy that the PCB exclusively allowed companies with their sports channels or acquired rights from another channel to participate in the bidding process, resulting in four channels competing for the rights.

In case the reserve price was not met, the PCB retained the authority to reconsider the bids or postpone the entire process. However, a consensus was reached after a substantial bid in the second round.

In comparison, 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.

Before the bidding, PCB enlisted the international company ‘Colganbauer’ to assess the media rights’ value for PSL, determining it to be 6 billion rupees. Minute Mirror