With the jaw-dropping splash of hundreds of crores making merry on its way across the border, Pakistan cricket’s annual grandeur-filled production has managed to clinch yet another high.
Everything about the Pakistan Super League screams volume and therefore, cricket aficionados insist there’s nothing new in the news about the successful tournament hitting the jackpot over the sale of media rights. Pakistan’s cricket board has announced that the live-streaming and broadcast rights for PSL over the next two years witnessed an increase of 113 and 45 per cent this year as local broadcaster, A Sports, bagged the television rights while Walee Technologies acquired the digital rights.
From the looks of it, it would be a hard task to stretch the advertisement revenue for as long as possible and rope in lucrative sponsors to earn substantial revenue over the hefty investment of $30 million. But considering how everyone involved has dared to continuously dream big in the last nine years, these unbelievable numbers might once again do the magic.
All in all, the franchise would be sustained as a cash cow for the board, which, in turn, is poised to put aside longer format games to bring about a display of high-quality cricket. However, attention should also be given to the extra risk added just because the organiser wishes to play on a bigger scale.
First and foremost, no other party had its own team like Karachi Kings to lay claims on the revenue pool; turning the entire exercise into an elaborate version of Russian roulette.
While A Sports might have decided to walk on the tightrope for goodwill branding, shouldn’t it be a cause of concern that the national broadcaster would have to either buy the transmission rights or sit out the tournament? The authorities would have been better off calculating the specifics before kicking out their boats and proclaiming how
A Sports earned back its money wasn’t their headache to begin with. Because of a small advertising market and an even small field for monetisation, the owners would be forced to resort to other tricks in the playbook to get their slice of the cake. Still, now that the board did get a little carried away by the build-up to action, the best line of action would be to use out-of-the-box solutions to reclaim lost revenue, bring back advertisers and ensure a sustaining model.
For now, it can only be hoped that a media giant’s decision to go all-in on the poker table works out for its finances as well as an event loved by all of Pakistan.
