Pakistan Cricket Board Struggling To Find Team Sponsors Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is feeling the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as it has failed to find a main sponsor for the national team which is presently in England.

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A well-placed source in the PCB said that negotiations were continuing with the one multi-national beverage company, which had shown interest in signing a new team logo sponsorship deal but had offered an amount far below the expectations of the board's marketing pundits.

"The PCB’s deal with the beverage company expired recently and the board invited fresh bids for the national team’s main logo sponsorship deal but no one submitted any bids except for the same beverage company," the source said.

He said the company had offered only 35 to 40 percent of the amount it had earlier paid to the board in their last contract.

"It is a problem but negotiations are still on but it is becoming clear that the coronavirus outbreak has even hit the multinational companies badly," he said.

The PCB’s marketing department has also failed to find sponsors for its revised domestic structure and for the second season running it has been forced to bear all expenses of the 12 provincial teams in the division one and two competitions.

The PCB is expected to spend millions of rupees on its domestic season.

It is also facing problems finding a new broadcaster to buy the rights of Pakistan’s international home series after its four-year deal with Ten sports expired recently.

"The situation is not very good and things will only improve once this Covid-19 pandemic ends and the market gains confidence," a marketing analyst said.

The PCB is hopeful that they will get a sponsor on board before the beginning of the England series because if they don’t find a new team sponsor, it will also badly hit the earnings of the players who get roughly 75 percent of the total annual amount received by the board from the main team sponsors.