Image Credit- PSL
The PSL’s media and broadcast rights auction has been
postponed for two weeks till the first week of January. This means that the
ninth season of the league will only secure a broadcast agreement one month
ahead of schedule. Bids will be sent to the PCB, but the government’s ministry
for interprovincial cooperation, IPC, will need to approve the winning
proposal.
The delay serves as more evidence of the shortcomings
of the current temporary PCB administration, which is only authorised by the
government to decide on day-to-day operations and to hold elections to elect
the Board of Governors. The current chairman of the PCB, Zaka Ashraf, met
earlier this week in Islamabad with the PCB’s patron, the interim prime
minister, and was informed once more that overseeing day-to-day operations and
organising elections was his top priority.
“The Prime Minister/Patron PCB directed PCB that
all decisions having financial and contractual implications shall only be taken
with the approval of Prime Minister/Patron PCB,” reads a note sent by the
IPC to Ashraf after the meeting, and seen by ESPNcricinfo. “Any
appointment or awards of rights or contracts of any sort will be violation of
the directions of Patron PCB.”
The memo concludes with one more reminder that the PCB
has not provided an update on the how its elections are going.
The deadline for submitting technical proposals for
PSL transmission was December 22. However, following the Prime Minister and
Ashraf meeting, the PCB notified prospective bidders that the process would be
postponed. The PCB has benefited greatly from the PSL’s broadcast rights, which
brought in USD 24 million for the two seasons of the just concluded deal. That
alone was a fifty percent increase above the previous agreement.
The new agreement is rumoured to be for two seasons,
in 2024 and 2025. It is anticipated that several regional sports networks will
make offers, and there have been rumours that several broadcasters may band
together to make bids. The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is usually televised
live on several stations in Pakistan, notably PTV (Pakistan Television, the
official broadcaster).