The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced that the first edition of the Pakistan Super League held in February at UAE has earned an overall profit of $2.6 million. Rs. 200 million will be shared out among the five participating teams to cover their losses from the first edition of the tournament, as promised by the PCB.
On Tuesday, PSL chairman Najam Sethi said that the board was content with the result of the tournament as it was initially assumed that the tournament would not make a profit. "But we have managed to make an overall profit of $2.6 million from the country's first ever Twenty20 league which is a healthy and encouraging sign for us," Sethi said, addressing the media in Lahore.
With five franchises this season, the PSL garnered massive interest among the cricket fans in Pakistan, although the tournament was played in Sharjah and Dubai due to security concerns in the country.
The league also generated high viewership, hitting record figures worldwide as the PCB produced and broadcasted the league by itself. The board also aired it on three channels at the same time after buying airtime from them.
"Overall the PSL was a bigger success than we initially expected and the profit is a welcome sign," Sethi said. Around $6 million was earned from the television rights and gate money, according to him.
Also read: IPL 2016: How the IPL team owners make money, how the IPL players are paid - Decoding IPL economics
The PSL had big names like Australian stars Brad Haddin and Shane Watson, Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, Caribbean big-hitters Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo and England's Kevin Pietersen.
Islamabad United, led by Pakistan's Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, were the champions of the inaugural edition. The team was coached by former Australian opener Dean Jones and the legendary pacer Wasim Akram. They beat Quetta Gladiators, lead by Sarfaraz Ahmed, by six wickets in the finals played in Dubai.
Sethi said that though the PCB made an agreement with the current franchises that a new team will be included only after two years, there was a lot of pressure to bring in a sixth franchise. According to him, the brand values of the franchises have immensely increased.
Sethi also said that PSL would be registered as a company with the PCB as the owner, and also hoped that the next edition of the tournament would be conducted in Pakistan.
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