LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to auction Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Multan Sultans due to good price fetched in the recent auction of two new teams, sources said on Sunday.
The board announced last month that it would assume control of Multan Sultans due to the expiration of its ownership agreement on December 31, 2025.
Sources, back then, had said that under the proposed plan, the PCB was to manage the franchise for a year before handing it over to a new owner through an auction in 2027.
If implemented, the deal would save the PCB around $4 million a year as it would not have to pay $3 million from the central pool and an additional $1 million in sponsorship funds. However, a report from an auditing company indicates that the PCB would not receive the franchise fee for that year, which amounts to $8.5 million.
In November, Multan Sultans owner Ali Tareen announced via social media that he was parting ways with the PSL franchise. Sources indicate that relations between the PCB and Ali Tareen remained strained over the past year, eventually reaching a point of no return.
Multan Sultans was originally awarded as the sixth PSL team to the Schon Group under a $5.2 million deal, making it the most expensive franchise at the time, double the price of Karachi Kings, which was acquired for $2.6 million.
Sources say the decision to auction Multan Sultans was taken because PCB got “a good price” in the recent auction, and the inclusion of two new teams, namely Hyderabad and Sialkot, is taking the number of teams in PSL 11 to eight.
Therefore, the board believes that there is no better time to sell Multan Sultans as well, and an open tender will be held and an advertisement in this regard is likely to be published soon.
An official announcement will be made soon after reviewing the legal aspects, the sources added, saying the board hopes the franchise will also be sold at a good price.
