'I see PSL as a gateway to Pakistan' - Sethi

Eight years on, finally the dream has been fulfilled with the PSL starting. How big an occasion is this?
It is a very big thing for us. When I became chairman of the PCB in 2013 one of the first files I saw was an attempt to organise the PSL which had been abandoned. At the time they said we didn't have the managerial talent to organise it. Then I said let us have a second look. The idea was to outsource the whole thing. So we set up a committee and sent out ads. Aman Foundation, which is linked with the Abraaj Group, and Haier came forward but unfortunately neither of their financial bids were adequate.

Then we hired Repucom to be our consultants. We should have had a whole year but we only had six months by the time we got the nod for the PSL. Having got permission from the board of governors and the funding, we then came to Dubai. That is when we found that February was not available. I was a bit stunned because my management had told me that February had been reserved. The Emirates Cricket Board said there was no written understanding with the PCB and the Masters Champions League had offered them a 10-year contract.

To cancel the PSL at that stage, when we had announced it, would have been a disaster. The PCB would have lost all credibility. We tried to persuade MCL owner Zafar Shah, but he was adamant. He would not give us space. The Emirates board was not willing to put us ahead of the MCL despite having a longstanding relationship with us. So I went to Qatar. The Qatar Olympics Committee was dying to have us, but they had only one stadium and that was not up to international standards. We drafted an MoU, where they would upgrade the stadium in four months. But two months down the line we found that it could not be done.

So I came back to Dubai and again approached the Emirates Cricket Board. We finally made a breakthrough. The understanding was that we would play for at least three years. We would not shift the venue except if it were to be played in Pakistan. The MCL would be played between January 22 and February 2 and they would play in Abu Dhabi, while we would start on February 4 and play in Dubai and Sharjah. So there would be no overlap. However, the ECB allowed the MCL to shift the dates and venues. So that has been a bit of a disappointment. We had an agreement but for various reasons that has been amended. But we have no ill will towards the other two partners.

Do you see the clash with the MCL hurting the PSL?
You can't compare the MCL with the PSL. That is for retired players and ours is current stars. And the market is very different: we are going to be banking really on Pakistanis whereas their audience is mixed. This is our first time. We really need to kick off.

What is the USP of the PSL?
Pakistanis are passionate about three things: cricket, music and food. I want to bring all these three together and the PSL is the right platform to do that. Secondly the Zimbabwe series in Pakistan showed how much interest there is in the market provided we are able to bring foreign players back to Pakistan. The third thing is I see the PSL as a gateway to Pakistan. If we are successful in holding a league here which creates a degree of excitement, if our security situation continues to improve as it is improving by the day, I see no reason why we can't persuade foreign players to play one match in Karachi and one match in Lahore next year. Then maybe in the third year, we could bring the whole league back to Pakistan. That is the short-term objective.

The PSL is going to be more like the IPL than the other leagues. I say that because there are 200 million Pakistanis at home and abroad. This is by far the single biggest eyeball market in the cricketing world outside of India. This purely empirically speaking.

Financially, are you confident the franchises will gain something?
The financial model is such that probably nobody might make money this season. I am hoping the PCB breaks even. I have told the board that we will not lose money this year. Some of the others (franchises) were not versed in terms of how to exploit their merchandising and other values might lose money. But, in the next two years, they will make money. The minute they make money the value of their assets will go up. And that is when we will have the sixth team followed by two more teams subsequently.

Realistically do you think you can hold the PSL in Pakistan in three years' time?
That is our aim. It is dependent on two things: the financial success of the PSL, how it catches the imagination of the Pakistanis and the world, and on the security situation.

Is it true that you offered overseas players the option of playing in Pakistan before the draft and each player rejected it?
We had two columns in the application: are you prepared to play in Dubai? And are you prepared to play in Pakistan? Nobody ticked Pakistan. Maybe we could have dealt with it differently: we could have said that we will offer twice as much if you play in Pakistan. But we deliberately did not want to do that because we wanted the first year to kick-start in a safe environment. But next year I mean to offer very good financial incentives to foreign players and see whether we could do at least the opening and the final in Pakistan. At the end of the day the main league would be in the UAE.

Strangely there is no hype or buzz around the PSL in Dubai. Why?
We have been working on very tight budgets. Our marketing budgets did not give us enough scope to spend the sort of money other leagues have spent. What is happening in Pakistan is more significant and important to us. Gate money is a fraction of our revenues. Apart from the psychological impact of having a good house on the first day or the second day, at the end of the day, it is the broadcasting value we get which comes from all the advertisers back home.

So you are not fussed about ticket sales?
We are, but I would not say it is an obsession with us. We do want as many people to come. We want people to demonstrate their nationalism, their support and affection for the PSL. But to say ticket sales are going to be critical to our financial model is not correct.

What anti-corruption measures has the PSL has put in place?
We have spent a lot of time and effort explaining things to the franchises and their managers on the anti-corruption code. We have a colonel from the Inter-Services Intelligence who is overseeing the security operation. We have a senior police officer of the rank of senior superintendent of police, who has worked for five years with the ICC's ACSU, who is part of the security team. We have also hired a UK-based firm, Sports Radar, which will monitor the betting patterns. We have one security official with every franchise. We cannot afford any scandal. We have told the franchises if there is a breach, even a hint of scandal, we would take serious measures including banning the team.