PCB reaps $2.6m profit from Pakistan Super League

Pakistan Super League (PSL) chairman Najam Sethi announced Tuesday an overall profit of $2.6 million from the country’s first ever Twenty20 league.

The five-team franchise-based event was held in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year in an attempt to boost the country’s cricket standards, which have been badly hit by the suspension of international tournaments since the 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore.

Sethi described the profit as a welcome sign.

“Fortunately we had a $2.6 million dollar profit but since the franchises incurred some losses we decided to give $2 million to them and reduced our profit to $0.6 million,” Sethi said at a news conference.

He said around $6 million was earned from television rights and gate money.

Islamabad beat Quetta to win February’s inaugural PSL, which featured top international players such as Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy, Shane Watson, Kevin Pietersen, Luke Wright and Shakib Al Hasan.

Sethi said a sixth team was likely to be added next year after negotiations.

“PSL was successful and there is huge demand to add one more team,” he added.

Sethi said Pakistan’s young cricketers would benefit from the PSL, just as the Indian Premier League had helped India, by allowing them to play alongside experienced international stars.