PCB wants to sell off Multan Sultans as soon as is legally possible

The PCB is considering reversing its position on delaying the sale of Multan Sultans until after the end of the upcoming 11th edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). ESPNcricinfo has learned that the PCB is in active discussions to sell off the franchise as soon as legally possible. The proposal has the support of senior officials at the PCB and the PSL, with a final sign-off required by chairman Mohsin Naqvi.

The PSL is understood to have been buoyed by the high prices at which the two new teams, Hyderabad and Sialkot were sold - for PKR 1.75 and PKR 1.85 billion respectively. The sales, which took place at an auction, far exceeded the PCB's expectations, with the franchise fees nearly three times that of Lahore Qalandars, the most valuable of the existing PSL sides.

PSL officials are believed to feel the sales make this a particularly opportune environment to secure the highest possible price for Sultans. Unlike the two new teams, Sultans is already an established PSL franchise, which has taken part in eight PSL seasons and won the title in 2021. As such, PSL officials are optimistic that a sale before the season would fetch the highest asking price of all.

At the press conference following Thursday's auction, PSL chief executive Salman Naseer said he had told the chairman: "Stage saja hua hai, Multan bhi announce kar dein [the stage is set, let's auction Multan Sultans off as well]," to which Naqvi replied that he had personally taken on the challenge of running Sultans, and demonstrating that would turn a profit. Naseer responded, half-jokingly, that he intended to continue pressuring the chairman to sell Sultans before the start of the season.

A final decision on the matter has not yet been reached.

Last month, Naqvi said at a press conference that the PCB would take over Sultans during this year's PSL, which runs from late March to early May. "As soon as the PSL ends, we will auction the franchise off, and in the next eight to ten days, we will appoint an acting head to run the franchise."

That timeframe has lapsed and there has been no announcement of a head coach or other officials to run the franchise. At that press conference, Naqvi said that PPRA (Public Procurement Regulatory Authority) rules prevented Sultans from being sold at the auction alongside the two new franchises. The rules require the sale to be advertised a certain time in advance. Given the ownership of Sultans from the previous owner, Ali Tareen, only ended on December 31 last year, there was not enough time to prepare Sultans for auction last Thursday.

The temptation for holding off on a sale till next year chiefly has to do with the potential to secure an even higher franchise fee, should the 11th edition prove successful. The auction appears to have demonstrated that the true value of these franchises is hard to fully assess, but buyers, especially from overseas, are willing to spend far larger amounts of money than the franchises were believed to be worth.

Tareen, the previous owner, ran into a number of disagreements with PSL officials which he pointed to as a reason for walking away, though the markup he was required to pay to retain the franchise for another decade was a significant factor in his ultimate decision. However, the two new sides ended up going for far higher sums of money in Pakistan currency terms.

At the same time, there will be wariness about a correction in the market should franchises struggle to financially recoup their investment. There is precedent of an investor pulling out after one year the last time a new side went up for sale. Ironically, that was Multan itself, which was purchased by Schon Group in 2018, who withdrew after just one year, paving the way for Tareen to acquire the franchise.

Ultimately, if the PCB pushes a sale through before the PSL, it will have to be done quickly. The tournament starts on March 26, with no information on when a draft or auction for the squads will take place. There is understood to be indecisiveness at this stage concerning how many players each existing franchise should be able to retain, and whether a draft or auction will be used to fill squads up.