Asian Cricket Council plans to initiate the bidding process for media rights of the Asia Cup within the upcoming month, having sought advice from Indian broadcasting companies.
According to foreign reports, ACC plans to offer four-year and eight-year deals, but broadcasters seem inclined towards the longer term. The tender is set to cover four Asia Cup events, including two ODI and two T20I competitions.
In order to avoid controversy, ACC will expectedly hold the events outside India and Pakistan. This decision aims to prevent issues like in the last tournament, which deployed a hybrid format due to India’s refusal to tour Pakistan.
The potential hosts for the tournaments include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates, Oman, etc.
The previous media rights deal was valued at approximately $80 million for four editions. ACC expects increased value, especially with the prospect of 2-3 India-Pakistan matches per event.
India’s Minister of Sports, Youth Affairs, Information & Broadcasting and Ex-Chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Anurag Thakur, has clearly stated in a media briefing that India would maintain its decision to not send the national cricket team to Pakistan for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
“When I was the head of the BCCI, my position was clear that two things cannot go together, you spread terrorism in India, shoot bullets, attempt to plant bombs, and then talk about playing cricket. First, stop shooting bullets and end terrorism in your own country, then your stadiums will be filled.”
