Online
LAHORE
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said the $200 million three-year deal broadcast agreement would change the landscape of Pakistan cricket and promised that the money would be ring-fenced to ensure it was reinvested into cricket.
In 2015, the PCB had sold international rights, which are still up for grabs, for a five-year period at about $12million a year. The projections of the next five-year international cricket rights were valued at $6 million a year.
“This $200 million domestic cricket rights is a game-changer that will change the landscape of the Pakistan cricket forever,” PCB Chief Executive officer, Wasim Khan said while talking to APP here.
“We will ensure the money is properly ring-fenced and not wasted. This deal is for the future of Pakistan cricket and needs to be strategically reinvested into cricket so that our next generation of cricket administrators and cricketers can reap the benefits of this historic achievement.
“The PCB plans to invest around PKR15billion over the next three years on enhancing domestic contracts and wellbeing of our age-group, men’s and women’s cricketers, strengthening our domestic cricket competitions as well as upgradation of stadia and infrastructure.
“Furthermore, we will build academies and centres of excellence in provinces, which will create job opportunities for over 100 former cricketers as coaches and managers. We also plan to restart our universities cricket, investment in grass roots cricket and improving players’ earning and welfare,” Wasim Khan said.
The PCB also explained it had acquired space on PTV Sports on which the PCB will run its own produced content, while the deal with I-Media Communications Services was for cable distribution and securing the transmission of PCB content broadcast on PTV Sports.
“Unlike previous times, the PCB will produce its own content, including live matches, which content will be owned by the PCB and will be placed on PTV Sports channel for Pakistan only.
“The PCB has not granted PTV satellite broadcast rights and has only granted terrestrial rights, which have must be granted to PTV being the national terrestrial broadcaster.
“The reason for giving cable rights separately to I-Media Communications Services is because the PCB needed to secure its content against what has been happening in the past i.e. extensive piracy and leakages of our signals that greatly diminished the value of PCB matches and PCB content and also resulted in such unauthorized and illegal distribution of cricket matches being of extremely low quality which resulted in our millions of cricket fans in Pakistan not receiving the quality product that they deserve to see their beloved sport,” the PCB said on its corporate website.
The PCB clarified the PTV Sports was not paying a fee to the PCB nor the PCB was paying a fee to PTV Sports.
“The cost that PTV Sports will incur for televising the matches, they will take that from the commercial airtime the PCB and PTV jointly will sell on its content during the broadcast.
“Therefore, there is no grant of rights, and there is no requirement for that process and, as such, no need of a tender. Even otherwise what PCB specifically requires for broadcasting its content the only entity capable of that is PTV in Pakistan,” the PCB said.
