Bids For PSL TV Rights Fall Short Of Pakistan Cricket Board's Goal

The Pakistan Cricket Board started receiving bids for the next three years’ media rights for the Pakistan Super League, but they reportedly are "not as attractive or handsome" as the bids received for the first two PSL editions -- '16 and '17 -- according to Mohammad Yaqoob of DAWN. None of the bidders, it seems, have reached "anywhere near" the $42M mark, "which is the target set for the next three years." Unlike the previous three editions of the PSL, this time, the PCB "decided to sell the media rights," instead of buying specific times on different TV channels to live telecast the matches. When the PCB launched the PSL in '16, no TV channel was "ready to offer a reasonable price for seeking the media rights." However, now PCB Chair Ehsan Mani's management has "decided to sell the media rights because the TV channels are now showing tremendous interest in purchase of media rights" (DAWN, 12/16).