Pakistan is currently playing against Bangladesh for the two-match Test match. This series is not being telecasted anywhere in India, since there is no Bangladeshi broadcaster involved in this match amidst the political distress in the country.
After this series, the Pakistani Team will host England for a series of three Test matches, which are scheduled to start from October 7, but there are possibilities of there being a blackout on TV. The reason for the blackout is that no UK broadcaster has put their bid for the series.
Since they did not receive any bids from UK broadcasters, The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued a tender last month.
Sky Sports, which had the previous exclusive rights for England’s Test series broadcasted their historic 3-0 win in Pakistan in December 2022, had confirmed that they are not going to bid this series. A similar case is with TNT Sport, who have also decided to not enter negotiations for the rights. This change marks a significant change since the past when Sky Sports had a long tradition of covering England’s Test series in the UK.
Sky Sports’ decision to stand back from bidding for overseas rights shows a strategy about focusing on securing exclusive rights for home series of England and major international events such as World Cup, T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy, which will all be held next year in Pakistani pitches. This choice is driven by an analysis of the costs attached with purchasing and having cricket coverage over the seas, which mostly does not result in significant number of subscribers.
