Daily Times

LAHORE: The proposal of six teams for the second edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) has been turned down by the franchise owners. Sources said Tuesday that despite PSL governing council chairman Najam Sethi’s promise of an increase in profit share for next year’s edition, the franchise owners declined the proposal. Kashmir was primed to be the sixth franchise had the proposal gone though. “The franchises argued against the inclusion of a sixth team saying that they wanted to grow their fan base and want more time to obtain returns on their investment. Thus, it was decided that the second edition will be conducted with five teams on board again,” added the sources. The sources further said the franchises also collectively turned down the offer of sponsoring regional teams made to them by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), since the consensus was to consolidate the PSL first.

The franchises aim to open new revenue streams via merchandising and are concerned that the addition of an additional franchise will lessen their receipts. Sethi had expressed his desire to add an additional franchise for the franchise-based tournament’s second edition. However, except Peshawar Zalmi no other franchise welcomed the idea – ostensibly because of the profit sharing mechanism. Sethi had earlier stated that the sixth team in PSL would be named after Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

The contract backs franchises: The contract signed between the PCB and the franchises hinders the former from adding another franchise until the third edition. Currently, there are five franchises based on four provincial capitals along with the federal capital in the tournament. PSL’s first edition, held in February earlier this year, turned out to be a massive success and garnered PCB a profit of $2.47 million. The cricket board distributed 70 percent of the profit among the five franchises equally.

Earlier, Sethi had said that the addition of Kashmir as the sixth team in the second edition of the event may face a few hurdles. “We will not have a new team until the third year; that is written,” Sethi had told media. “But at the same time we are looking at the financials about the addition of a sixth team, in terms of whether it will be Kashmir, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Gilgit-Baltistan or any other team. That decision is pending. We have to weigh the pros and cons and that’s the issue right now but we cannot have it until all franchises agree. Without their consent we can’t make it happen.” Sethi had also delved into details about the monetary aspects of the first edition and confirmed that each franchise’s spending cap would be increased by 10% from the first edition when it was $1.2m. He had also said they spent extra from their estimated budget but still managed to generate profit.