By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Super League expanded to eight teams on Thursday with the addition of franchises in Hyderabad and Sialkot, as two investor groups submitted record bids totaling more than Rs3.6 billion in a closely watched auction that shows the growing commercial appeal of the country’s premier cricket competition.
The FKS Group, led by Fawad Sarwar, secured the seventh team for Rs1.75 billion after outbidding competitors in the first round, choosing Hyderabad as its home base. Moments later, OZ Developers, owned by Hamza Majeed, clinched the eighth franchise with a bid of Rs1.85 billion — the highest ever for a league team — and selected Sialkot, prevailing in a tense showdown with the software company i2c.
The auction, held at the Jinnah Convention Centre here, marked the second major expansion in the league’s history since its inception in 2015. It came after the Pakistan Cricket Board conducted a valuation of the existing six franchises and renewed contracts with five owners, while taking control of the Multan Sultans after its previous proprietor opted not to extend.
“Ten years of PSL have lead us to this moment,” Salman Naseer, the league’s chief executive, said at the outset, as he joined the former Pakistan captain and commentator Wasim Akram on stage to oversee the proceedings. Akram, serving as host, urged the bidders to see ownership as more than a financial transaction, emphasising the chance to design new logos and kits, interact with players and shape a team’s identity.
The base price for the first new franchise was set at Rs1.1 billion, while the second started at Rs1.7 billion. In the opening round, all nine qualified investors vied intensely, with i2c’s final offer reaching Rs1.7 billion before FKS emerged victorious. The second round pitted OZ Developers against i2c once more, with the latter bidding Rs1.82 billion before the winners sealed the deal.
The successful groups were permitted to pick from a board-approved list of cities: Faisalabad, Gilgit, Hyderabad, Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi and Sialkot. This will be the first time either Hyderabad or Sialkot has fielded a team in the league, whose 11th edition is scheduled from March 26 to May 3. The current lineup includes the Lahore Qalandars, Islamabad United, Peshawar Zalmi, Quetta Gladiators, Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans.
The first expansion occurred ahead of the third season, when Multan joined to bring the total to six. Bidders included FKS, OZ Developers, Aim Next Inc., Deharki Sugar Mills, Inverex Solar, i2c, Jazz, Prism Developers, VGO TEL and Walee Pakistan. Interest surged after the cricket board held promotional roadshows in London and New York, drawing inquiries from investors in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and elsewhere. As a result, the bidding deadline was extended twice — first from Dec. 15 to Dec. 22, then to Dec. 24.
Before the auction began, Mohsin Naqvi, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, presented cash prizes to national squads for recent achievements: Rs90 million to the team that captured the Rising Star Asia Cup, and Rs18.5 million to the victors of the Hong Kong Sixes tournament.
Earlier Thursday, Ali Tareen, the former owner of the Multan Sultans, announced on social media that he and his family would sit out the process. “Our time with Multan Sultans was never just about owning a cricket team. It was about south Punjab,” he wrote on X. “[It was] about giving a voice to a region that had been overlooked for too long. That’s what drove everything we built.”
Tareen, who added that his heart remained with south Punjab, said he would return only for a similar cause. “This year, I’ll be in the stands. Cheering for players on and celebrating with the fans. And when the Multan team is being sold, we’ll be ready,” he wrote.
The expansion reflects the league’s maturation into a lucrative enterprise, with franchises now commanding bids far exceeding initial expectations. League officials anticipate the new teams will broaden the competition’s geographic reach and fan base, injecting fresh rivalries into what has become a staple of Pakistan’s sporting calendar.
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