Tender for HBL PSL broadcasting rights set to be issued this week

The tender for the broadcasting rights of HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) is set to be issued this week, according to sources.

A major chunk of the tournament’s revenue depends on the broadcasting rights, which is why the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and HBL PSL franchises are closely following the deal.

Sources also revealed that a lot of parties are interested in acquiring the rights, which includes a sports channel recently launched by a HBL PSL franchise owner. However, this could lead to conflict of interest during the bidding process. As a team owner, the interested party will be keen on ensuring that the rights are sold for a high value but on the other hand as the owner of the channel they would be looking to seal the deal at a lower value.  

When PCB spokesperson was approached on the matter, they deemed matter relating to conflict of interest as “speculative” before the tender was issued.  

In order to ensure fairness in the deal, two representatives from PSL franchises were nominated to monitor the process. Although, one of them stepped down because of prior work, mainly in an advisory role, with multiple media organisations in the past. The said person felt that involvement in the deal would not have been appropriate.