PSL franchises refute PCB Ramiz Raja’s PSL 7 claims

The tussle between the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has shown no signs of ending. In recent developments, PSL franchises have refuted PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja's claims that every franchise has made a profit of PKR 810 million from the latest edition of PSL 2022.

According to a report in Cricket Pakistan, several franchises state that the numbers revealed by Raja are wrong and do not include the deduction of PKR 400-500 million in expenditure. Raja announced last week that PSL 7 helped each franchise earn a profit of PKR 810 million, which he claimed was 900 million ahead of the final in March.

Per the rules, the PSL franchises pay 95 per cent of the tournament's TV production cost, roughly around PKR 130 million per team. Other expenses that fall under the purview of franchises are hotel accommodation (PKR 65 million), travel expenses (PKR 10 million), daily allowance (PKR 150 million), and event management expenses (PKR 14 million), which include LED lighting in the stadium.

Players' and coaches' fees amount to PKR 170 million and PKR 20 million, respectively, which can differ according to the franchise.

These numbers show that almost half of the income is shelled out in expenses. In fact, a few franchises would be running on losses if not for the fee they get from PCB.

Franchises like Quetta Gladiators, and Islamabad United benefit due to a lower fee, while others tend to rake in their income from sponsorship to show profits.

Meanwhile, Multan Sultans find themselves with a negative balance sheet.

On the flip side, the PCB are yet to pay the promised 50 per cent from the central pool of revenue to the franchises, which were due by May 5. However, the PCB CFO has assured franchise owners that 90 per cent of the payment will be completed by July, and this delay was due to non-payment from a few stakeholders.

The remaining 10 per cent will be paid by December 2022, as per their agreement.

Sami-Ul-Burney, who heads the media department of the PCB, said that it is for the first time that franchises have made monetary benefits and expects them to be distributed in full within the first half of July.

The governing board also transferred the expenses of ongoing court trials against stakeholders onto the franchises. 

This decision has soured relations between them even further as the former PCB chairman Ehsan Mani had promised that the board would look after these expenses.