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| PCB considers shorter term for TV rights deal |
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Monday, May 12, 2008
KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is considering the idea of putting up its television rights for sale till just 2012 rather than for a five-year period in a bid to maximise the profits.
A senior PCB official told ‘The News’ that the idea is to just sell the television rights for a two to three year period as the International Cricket Council (ICC) is scheduled to finalise its next Future Tour Programme (FTP) in 2012.
“Rather than putting up television rights for sale for a five-year period this year, I believe it would be more profitable for the PCB if we sell the rights till the period when the new FTP is announced,” said Shafqat Naghmi, PCB’s Chief Operating Officer.
Naghmi said that Pakistan will most likely be in a better bargaining position in 2012 as the PCB will push for some Test and ODI series against the world’s top teams.
“We are pushing for a better tour programme from 2012-2017 than it is now and that would help make the sale of our television rights more lucrative than now,” Naghmi pointed out.
Pakistan got a raw deal in the current FTP as their team will not be playing as many Tests as other major cricketing nations like Australia, India and England in the coming few years.
“Actually the amount of money you get through television rights is directly proportional to the quantity and quality of cricket your team is supposed to play in the coming years,” Naghmi pointed out.
Pakistan received a rude shock when world champions Australia scrapped their tour of Pakistan this year because of security concerns and later announce they would instead visit twice next year to compensate for the ‘delayed’ tour.
In 2008, they’ve just hosted minnows Zimbabwe and Bangladesh for back-to-back ODI series.
Naghmi said that the issue of television rights will come up for discussion during the PCB’s Governing Board meeting on Tuesday (tomorrow).
“The Board members will be briefed about all the options we have regarding the sale of the television rights and there might be some decision on it in the up coming meeting,” he said.
Pakistan are hoping to sign a multi-million dollar TV rights deal later this year.
Naghmi said that there is possibility that the PCB will ask for expressions of interest from media groups in the first week of September (before the start of the ICC Champions trophy) and then strike a deal after the conclusion of the tournament.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
