International media rights snapped up for $99,000

The Pakistan Cricket Board has awarded the international media rights of the upcoming Pakistan versus New Zealand men’s and Pakistan versus West Indies women’s series for $99,000.

According to the details, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) set an exorbitant reserve price of around 21 million dollars for the three-year international media rights, but no one could match it.

A Pakistani media group and a private company joined forces as a consortium to bid, while foreign companies Willow and Sports Five also took part in the bidding. Among them, Sports Five made the highest bid of $7.8 million.

The Pakistani company bid approximately $4.1 million, while Willow bid $2.25 million. Since the reserve price wasn't met, the board proposed raising the price to the bidders, prompting another round of bidding.

In the second round, Sports Five maintained their previous offer of $7.8 million, while the Pakistani company nearly doubled their offer to $7.85 million. However, the PCB once again rejected the bids as they didn't meet the reserve price.

Subsequently, there was a new tender specifically for the home Series against New Zealand and the women's Series against West Indies. During this process, both Pakistani companies collectively bid $99,000 (roughly 27.6 million Pakistani rupees), Willow bid $75,000, and Sports Five bid $50,000.

The five-match T20I series between Pakistan and New Zealand will be played from April 18 to April 27 in Rawalpindi and Lahore, while the three ODIs and five T20Is in the women’s series featuring Pakistan and the West Indies will be held from April 18 to May 3 in Karachi.