SLC called for tenders for broadcast rights for the three-test series against India and received just one offer from Taj TV – who currently own Sri Lanka’s broadcast rights for home matches and televise them through their Ten Sports network – for a low sum of US$ 1.4 million.
SLC Interim Committee Chairman Sidath Wettimuny speaking to said that they were negotiating with Ten Sports, and would decide what they would do once negotiations were completed.
“We are currently talking to Ten Sports, and we will see what happens,” Wettimuny said.
When asked if SLC were in talks with others broadcasting companies, Wettimuny declined to comment on, or deny, those claims saying, “I’m not saying that. We will speak to Ten Sports first and then decide.”
A source familiar with the situation claimed that an SLC official was in talks with another broadcaster, who hold the broadcast rights to the Indian Premier League, believed to be for a deal of over US$ 2 million for the three-test series, and that the negotiations were being done through a third-party company that deals with sports production, who will receive the production rights if SLC opts for this agreement.
The also learns that the third-party production company involved, were also involved with the production of the defunct Sri Lanka Premier League, and the source claimed such a deal would be to the financial benefit of a former powerful cricket administrator who is said to have a close relationship with the production company.
The source also said that the low bid of US $ 1.75 million by Taj TV was likely down to the fact that the series was taking place later in the year and advertisers would have exhausted their budgets, with the World Cup and India’s tours of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe having taken place before the Sri Lanka tour.
The source also said that the best course of action would be for SLC to reach an agreement with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and reschedule the tour to next year, which would help SLC get a better, more lucrative television deal.
SLC, when advertising for a new TV deal in 2013, called for separate bids for production rights and broadcast rights but opted to go with the offer made by Taj TV for both production and broadcast of Sri Lanka’s home matches.
The upcoming Indian tour does not fall under that agreement, which runs till the end of 2020, as the series was agreed upon after the TV deal was signed.
