The PSL will get two new franchises from 2026, making it an eight-team league. This was officially confirmed in a press release by the PCB, which called the next season in 2025 – the tenth edition – “the last six-team event”.
Although this is possible since the day PCB and PSL agreed not to add more teams until after the tenth season, this is the first time PCB has publicly confirmed the expansion of PSL. It will be the first time in nine years that a new team has entered the PSL, with the entry of Multan Sultan in 2018 being the only addition to the first five so far. The process of deciding which cities the new teams will represent has not yet started.
The year after the tenth season could be a big risk for the PSL, and the ten-year rental agreements that the PSL reached with the franchise owners expire in 2025. ESPNcricinfo understands that the Sultans’ contract will be renewed next year, although they joined the PSL two years later than others. All six owners have the right of first refusal, meaning that franchise ownership will only be sold in the event that the current owner refuses to match the franchise price.
There is absolutely no international agreement on this option. Most of the PSL players initially opposed the idea because of the implications it would have on player availability and the inevitability of playing second fiddle to the IPL, and at least three of the six franchises remained strongly against it. A PCB official, however, told ESPNcricinfo that they are still confident that the franchises will come around to it. It is also worth noting that the opposition of the franchise to this idea cannot stop it from happening; those decisions are taken by the governing body of PSL. In fact, that means the PCB can decide to play the tournament in any window, with or without the support of franchises.
The PCB offered to amend player recruitment rules and open up financial space to allow franchises to sign one marquee player outside the draft to ease concerns about player availability. With their current broadcasting partnership ending in 2025, next season could be a test of the future success of hosting the league at the same time as the IPL. In addition, the expansion of the league to eight teams would have required a larger window, as the three-month window designed for the IPL provides enough time for the PSL to expand slightly.
However, this means that the PSL will only feature international players who were not selected for the IPL, given the huge financial disparity between the two leagues. This, for example, effectively prevents Rashid Khan from joining the Lahore Qalandars – one of the franchises against the window – for the foreseeable future. Qalandars chose to keep him in PSL 2024 even though he knows that he will not be able to guarantee that they will be able to keep this player who runs in Afghanistan the following year. However, he may turn to the IPL if the two leagues collide.
ESPNcricinfo also understands that the PCB is seriously considering the possibility of hosting the playoffs and finals of PSL 2025 in the UK once the April/May window is completed. Lahore is unseasonably hot for mid-May – temperatures are currently hovering in the mid-40s. Moving to the UK, according to the PCB, does more than reduce the climate, though; it also increases PSL’s reach. The UK is believed to be cheaper than the UAE, which previously hosted all PSL matches that were not held in Pakistan.
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