PCB will face heavy financial losses if they refuse to play India at T20 World Cup: Report

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) could face massive financial losses if the ICC's all-powerful governing board decides to penalise them for refusing to play the T20 World Cup match against India on February 15 in Colombo.

According to details collected by PTI, Pakistan's share in the ICC's financial cycle 2024/27 comes to approximately USD 144 million at the highest pay out rate of USD 38 million distributed to the PCB annually.

"Basically if the ICC decides to penalise Pakistan for not playing India, the PCB could take a big hit financially as the ICC share in the current financial cycle comes to approximately 40 billion PKR," an insider said.

He said that these 40 billion rupees have enabled the PCB to remain financially healthy, but if they take a hit, it will mean financial challenges for Pakistan cricket.

He confirmed that Pakistan had already received substantial shares from the ICC for the 2024 T20 World Cup and last year's Champions Trophy, which it also hosted and got an additional USD 6 million from a total budget of USD 70 million for the tournament.

The insider said the PCB had spent a lot on organising the event and in terms of gate money, sale of hospitality boxes didn't earn much.

Pakistan, though, were able to play just one match at home as their clash against India was held at a neutral venue in Dubai as per an agreement signed between the BCCI, PCB and ICC.

The PCB spent around 18 billion rupees on upgradation work at three stadiums in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi, which are still ongoing, and this has also affected the board's earnings from the Champions Trophy.

"The PCB is yet to get shares from the T20 World Cup this year and from the 50-over World Cup next year and that is where the ICC could impose financial penalties," he said.

He also explained that since the PCB was a signatory to the participating teams agreement for the ICC events, in case there is no ground for force majeure the ICC and the broadcasters could push for heavy financial penalties on the PCB while seeking compensation.

He said according to a rough estimate the broadcasters, who paid USD 3 billion to the ICC for the current financial cycle, depend heavily on the Pakistan-India matches to make profits or break even as each game between the two countries is



estimated to earn them around USD 250,000 million or more.

In four ICC events this cycle, broadcasters are guaranteed USD one billion from four Pakistan-India matches. And if they are not held, it will lead to a substantial reduction in the shares distributed to member countries.

The PCB's other main sources of revenues on surface include USD 42 million as franchise fees starting from the PSL 11th edition this year with the addition of two new teams.

The two new teams were sold for 175,000 crore (estimated USD 6.2 million) and 185,000 crores (estimated USD 6.65 million) while after revaluation of the existing five out of six franchises, the PCB will now earn around USD 20 million from them as annual fees.

The PCB will also be auctioning off the Multan Sultans franchise this month and going by the trend set in the auction of the new Hyderabad and Sialkot teams, it could sell off the Multan franchise for around 200 crore which comes to approximately USD 7 million included in the total annual franchise fees of around USD 42 million.

The PCB at the same time distributes 95 percent of the central pool revenues of the PSL from sale of media broadcasting rights, title sponsorships and advertising and franchises also get 90 percent of the total gate revenues from the league.

The insider said the PCB revenues also include money from the national team's sponsorship deal and sale of the national team's home international and domestic cricket rights.

"But the PCB also has huge expenses which include subsidising the domestic events, salaries and administration expenses, perks for around 700 to 800 employees," he said.

He also reminded that a 2023 audit report by the auditor general of Pakistan pointed out problems in receiving the annual franchise fees and absence of bank guarantees in some cases.

The audit report also forecast substantial potential loss of 10.751 million rupees for the board from the 7th to 12th edition but this was before the two new teams fetched the board 360 crore rupees.

Other major expenses for the PCB include approximately USD 5 to 6 million on paying the contractual players monthly retainers.

Since 2023, the PCB has not bothered to post any annual audited financial report on its website as is the practice across the world.