UK TV broadcaster faces tough decision on Pakistan vs England series amidst challenging bilateral market conditions

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and cricket fans in England are eagerly awaiting a deal to secure television broadcast rights for Pakistan's home series against England in October. Despite a dwindling appetite for bilateral cricket in the market, a PCB official recently admitted to ESPNcricinfo that the initial reserve price for the series was deemed excessive, which may have deterred broadcasters from entering negotiations. As discussions continue, both parties remain hopeful for a breakthrough that will allow fans to enjoy the thrilling matches on TV.

While the Guardian reported on Thursday that Sky and TNT Sport have shown little interest in picking up the rights, the PCB believe any notions of a UK blackout are alarmist and remain confident a deal will be reached. Privately though, officials at a broadcast company that ESPNcricinfo spoke to suggested there remain questions about whether the board's methods of secure broadcasting rights are conducive to the potential of these deals being realised.

The PCB was also compelled to accept a valuation of more than a billion Pakistan rupees fewer than its reserve price for domestic rights for home series from August 2024 to December 2026. It is understood that the board's quote was approximately PKR 3.1 billion (USD 11.2 million) and while final broadcast figures were not made public, it is believed they eventually had to settle for a fee between USD 6 to 6.5 million.

ESPNcricnfo understands the public and transparent nature of the bidding process allowed the broadcasters who conventionally go head-to-head to come together and make arrangements which ensured they did not bid beyond a pre-agreed price, much lower than the PCB's valuation. Eventually, the rights were acquired by ARY, who run the TV channel A Sports, and Tower Sports, who operate the Ten Sports Network.

The PCB pointed out, at the time of the announcement, that the domestic rights had sold for double the previous two-year cycle. The ICC, meanwhile, was able to sell its rights in Pakistan for several times that number, believed to be in the region of USD 25 million. PTV and Tower Sports landed the TV rights to broadcast six ICC events in 2024 and 2025: 2024's Men's and Women's T20 World Cups, the 2024 Women's Cricket World Cup, and the ICC Champions Trophy, the U19 Women's T20 World Cup and the World Test Championship final in 2025.

A PCB official said direct comparisons between ICC rights and domestic rights did not directly scan, given there are several India-Pakistan fixtures guaranteed across ICC events. Pakistan also remains the only major cricketing nation that does not get to play India in bilateral series, invariably resulting in a reduced value for those rights than would otherwise be the case.

England are set to play three Tests in Pakistan in October, two years after they became the first side to whitewash Pakistan in the country. The BBC have picked up radio broadcasting rights for the tour, but as things stand, an agreement that guarantees England cricket fans will be able to watch them attempt to repeat the feat remains elusive.