PSL's expansion explained: New teams, new owners, and a high-stakes auction

This year sees the most significant change to the Pakistan Super League in its decade-long history. Two new teams will be added to the league from the 11th season onwards, making it an eight-team league. To that end, the PSL will hold an auction in which approved and interested parties bid to take control of the new teams. ESPNcricinfo addresses a few of the questions surrounding the auction, and what that means for the PSL going forward.

What's actually happening with the PSL?
Simply put, the PSL is expanding to eight teams rather than the six-team league it has operated as for the past eight seasons. With each side owned privately, the league needs two new investors for the new teams. To that end, it is holding an auction for the two new sides, with the highest bidder purchasing the new teams. This auction will be held in Islamabad on January 8.

Why is it expanding now?
In 2021, the PCB, which oversees the PSL, signed a deal with the owners of the six franchises guaranteeing no expansion until after the 2025 season. That was when the ownership rights of the six existing owners of the PSL franchises expired. This was done to protect the investments of the six owners, who feared a smaller share of the pie if it was eventually carved between more teams. That has been an issue with expansion ever since the league's inception; it began as a five-team league in 2016, and while the PCB was keen to add a sixth team, the five owners were opposed to the move. The sixth team, Multan Sultans, was eventually added in 2018.

Ahh, Multan Sultans! What's happening with them?
That's slightly more complicated. After an escalating dispute between the owner, Ali Tareen, and the PSL's organising committee, Tareen ultimately opted to walk away from the Sultans rather than renew his ownership, which expired at the end of 2025. That left the franchise without an owner, meaning the PSL needed three new owners as opposed to two; all other owners confirmed they were renewing their ownership of their respective sides.

However, in a press conference, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said there was too little time before the PSL to go through the legal processes required before the Sultans could be put up for sale. As such, the PCB would appoint an independent management team to run the franchise. After the 2026 season of the PSL, the Sultans are due to be put up for sale.

Right, so Tareen's out, then?
Well, not quite. He will bid for one of the two new teams at the auction. Naqvi spoke in conciliatory terms of Tareen, praising him as having "done a lot of work with the Sultans" and saying he would be welcome to bid for one of the new sides.

Who else is bidding?
The bidders to qualify have, at least officially, only begun to be revealed piecemeal through social-media announcements by the PSL's official account. At the time of writing, Tareen, mobile phone manufacturer VGO, real estate consortium OZ Group, and Jazz - one of Pakistan's leading mobile network companies - have been confirmed as approved bidders for the new franchises. ESPNcricinfo understands that Inverex, a giant of Pakistan's fast-growing solar industry, is also expected to bid. In addition, i2c, a software company based in Lahore and headed by businessman Amir Wain, is believed to be entering the mix.

So how does the auction actually work?
Well, like any auction works. Each successful bidder will own the rights to their team for another ten years, and will need to keep in mind the sustainability of their purchase over that period. In 2018, the successful bidders for Multan Sultans, Schon Group, ultimately withdrew after just one season. Since there are only two items (the new PSL teams) up for sale, it should be sorted out fairly quickly.

What will the new teams be called?
Whatever the owners want them to be called. Within reason, of course. There are six cities that the new teams can be named after, with the owners getting the naming rights. The cities are Rawalpindi - Islamabad's twin city - Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Sialkot, Gilgit and Muzaffarabad.

When is the PSL draft taking place?
That's another unknown for now. An official date hasn't been set. There is also uncertainty over how the PSL grapples with adding two teams to the draft, and whether it restricts the players existing franchises can retain to make more players accessible to the new franchises.

When is the PSL actually happening?
That we do know. It starts on March 26 and ends on May 3. That's actually not a substantially larger window than has been used for six-team PSL tournaments, so it's likely games will come thicker and faster.

For the second year in a row, the league clashes with the Indian Premier League; the two leagues actually start on the same day. That means there will be almost no international cricket to compete with, though a lot of the top-tier talent will have been hoovered up by the IPL. However, the 2025 season is generally viewed as having enjoyed a stronger roster than previous years, even with the IPL clash, making the PCB more willing to retain that window.