KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board has signed a satellite broadcast deal for broadcast in Pakistan with public broadcaster PTV Sports and a further agreement to secure cable distribution with I-Media Communication Services.
The broadcast deal, which is for the 2020 to 2023 cycle, is structured to provide for increasing revenues over the term of the cycle and PCB expects to earn in excess of $200 million over the three-year term, states an official press release.
The agreements were signed in the presence of Pakistan Prime Minister and cricket legend Imran Khan, who is also the PCB patron.
The broadcast agreement is for Pakistan only while PCB will be soon finalizing the grant of its broadcast rights for international territories separately as well as launching a new structure for its digital media rights.
All the major domestic tournaments, including the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the National T-20 Cup, the One Day Pakistan Cup and others will be broadcast live on PTV Sports and distributed across Pakistan on cable networks. The supporting cable distribution agreement seeks to ensure that the broadcast content of PCB cricket is not redistributed without proper authorization which was one of the reasons for greatly diminishing the value of PCB content.
The matches will be produced by PCB directly to the highest international standards and will not be bulked as part of the broadcasting deal as was done in the past. PCB will ensure broadcast and distribution of Pakistan cricket across the globe.
For the first time in almost three decades the broadcasting rights of Pakistan Cricket in Pakistan have been granted exclusively to a Pakistani broadcaster and that too the national broadcaster. This will maximize the opportunity for cricket fans in Pakistan to watch good competitive cricket almost throughout the year and follow the top cricketers and teams they support in the domestic season.
PCB plans to invest PKR 15 billion (Rs 6.65 billion) over the next three years on men and women’s domestic cricket, including upgrading of stadiums and infrastructure, building provincial academies and centres of excellence, employment of over 100 former cricketers as coaches and managers for the City Cricket Associations, restarting inter-university cricket, investment in grassroots cricket and improving players’ earning and welfare.
