LAHORE: The combined media exposure brand value worth for the HBL PSL season three has been calculated at US$230 million plus, according to a press release issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) here on Tuesday.

The third edition was held in the UAE and Pakistan in Feb-March this year.

While UAE hosted 31 matches, three games including the final was held in Lahore and Karachi respectively.

Leading firm evaluates league’s rapid growth

“Leading sports evaluation firm ‘Nielsen Sports’ has given the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) a hugely positive report on the third edition of the tournament. The event was held in February-March this year in the UAE with three games including the final played in Pakistan,” a PCB press release issued after a detail meeting here was held here under the chairmanship of PCB chairman Najam Sethi, with all the stakeholders of the franchises in attendance.

“The combined media exposure brand value worth for HBL PSL season three (PSL, official partners and franchises) was calculated at $230+ million.

“According to Nielsen Sports, who conducted an extensive research on the league, the HBL PSL and its official sponsors generated 38% higher value than the previous season, showing a rapid growth in the league.

“Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings were the top two performing franchises in terms of total media value,” the press release added. “Social media was the media platform that showed the greatest growth, increasing the value for HBL PSL and its sponsors by almost four times.

“This was mainly due to more uploaded content and higher fan engagement on Facebook and Twitter on the official HBL PSL platforms.

“Nielsen Sports is the premier provider of analytics and insights within the sports industry, offering the most reliable source of independent and holistic market data in the sector and the most complete view of consumer trends and habits worldwide.

“The firm has also recently delivered the first ever global market research for the International Cricket Council (ICC).

“The HBL PSL team, stakeholders and franchises were presented a thorough report on the third edition of the HBL PSL by sports evaluation firm Nielsen Sports in Lahore today,” the PCB release further said.

“Kelvin Watt, Managing Director Africa and Middle East Nielsen Sports, who presented the report, spoke on the HBL PSL’s growth in the third edition.

“Watt feels that the 2018 edition has further increased HBL PSL’s value in and outside Pakistan.

“Nielsen Sports has been associated with the HBL PSL since its inception and we are very pleased to report back to the PCB and the various franchise owners the continued growth of the HBL PSL in 2018. There is no doubt that the HBL PSL truly became a globally relevant cricket event this year and we look forward to this property growing from strength to strength in the years ahead,” it concluded.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2018