With England’s tour of Pakistan starting in just six days, pay-television broadcaster Sky is expected to secure media rights in the UK for the three-Test series, SportBusiness understands.
Sky is thought likely to finalise an agreement with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in the coming days for rights to the series, with discussions thought to be ongoing about a longer-term deal until the end of 2026.
Sources in the UK and Pakistan, however, cautioned that the PCB has struggled with media rights processes of late and there is the possibility of the agreement falling through at the last hurdle.
England’s upcoming tour starts on Monday (October 7). Sky, which is the UK’s dominant cricket broadcaster as the holder of domestic England and Wales Cricket Board rights, also showed England’s last tour of Pakistan, in autumn 2022.
If a long-term deal is completed, the inventory would also include England’s ODI tri-series in Pakistan, also involving Sri Lanka and scheduled for October 2026.
The PCB has not been able to secure long-term international rights sales since its previous agreements expired at the end of 2023. It is understood to have generated between $18m (€16.2m) and $19m from international rights sales over the three-year period from 2021 to 2023, but failed to build on this platform.
Rival UK pay-television broadcaster TNT Sports showed Pakistan’s recent home Test series against Bangladesh in a standalone deal.
It is understood that the PCB has also contacted interested parties from other territories in recent days to say it had repackaged its international media rights.
PCB rights in South Africa are available until December 2026, while rights in the following markets are available until December 2025: Australia, the Middle East and North Africa, the Caribbean, India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and North America.
Interested broadcasters or agencies were asked to submit their interest by 4pm Pakistan time today (Tuesday). The PCB would then contact them to discuss reserve prices.
Last month, the PCB ended its drawn-out search for long-term domestic broadcast agreements. Media groups ARY and Tower Sports together secured PCB rights until the end of 2026.
The PCB’s men’s match inventory for the period to the end of 2026 is as follows:
- October 2024: England (three Tests)
- January 2025: West Indies (two Tests)
- February 2025: New Zealand and South Africa (ODI tri-series)
- May 2025: Bangladesh (three ODIs and three T20Is)
- August 2025: Afghanistan (three T20Is)
- September/October 2025: Ireland (three ODIs, three T20Is)
- October/November 2025: South Africa (two Tests, three ODIs, three T20Is)
- November 2025: Sri Lanka (three ODIs, three T20Is)
- February/March 2026: Australia (three T20Is, three ODIs)
- April 2026: Zimbabwe (three ODIs, three T20Is)
- October 2026: Sri Lanka (three T20Is)
- October 2026: England and Sri Lanka (ODI tri-series)
- November 2026: Sri Lanka (two Tests)