The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and franchise owners in the Pakistan Super League are yet to reach a consensus on the scheduling of next year’s T20 tournament, which will clash with the IPL if held in the proposed April-May window.
The next PSL can’t be held in its normal time frame of February-March due to the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan and other international commitments at home.
The franchise owners are also waiting for their share of money from the central pool of revenues earned from the last PSL this year where poor crowds at some venues led to concerns.
“Holding the PSL in the same window as the IPL is a huge risk and the main issue could be availability of premium players, plus eyeballs on TV and digital media for the PSL matches,” an official with a franchise said.
He said the PCB had discussed a possible April-May window for the PSL 2025 but the franchise owners still had reservations about the tournament clashing with the IPL which attracts the world’s best players and also because of its abundance of wealth.
He said that the PCB had conveyed to the franchise owners that they could be given the right to start directly negotiating with foreign players so that they can get commitments for the league before the IPL auction.
“We have been told we can at least confirm negotiations with 1-2 marque level players. But it is not final yet.”
The PSL has been the PCB’s biggest source of earning since its inception as it was held in a favourable window but since 2023, the equation has changed.
“For the first time in 2023 PSL was not the PCB’s biggest revenue generator, it was international cricket,” another franchise official said.
He said that in 2023 the PCB earned 3.35 billion from the PSL whereas the earnings from international cricket were 5.5 billion.
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