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The Pakistan Super League (PSL) has delivered a big surprise this year, giving the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) a big reason to celebrate. Despite facing many challenges and the group matches being played without spectators, PSL 2026 has reportedly ended with a huge financial success. In big news, Shaheen Afridi lost his place in the Test team.
Many expected the Pakistan Super League 2026 to struggle due to the clash with the Indian Premier League 2026 and limited crowd attendance. But PSL 2026 is reportedly set to become one of the most profitable seasons in the history of Pakistan Super League.
Huge success recorded in Pakistan Super League 2026
One of the biggest changes this season was the expansion from eight teams to ten teams. Hyderabad Kingsmen and Rawalpindi joined the PSL as the latest franchises.
With 10 teams active, each side played 10 league matches before the playoffs, increasing the total number of matches from 34 to 44. This gave the tournament more games, more content and more commercial opportunities.
According to Sama TV report, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) earned over PKR 10 billion in total revenue during PSL 2026, while spending around PKR 2.645 billion on the event. This resulted in a pre-tax profit of approximately PKR 7.549 billion, which is approximately Rs 260 crore.
PCB to gain over PKR 7.5 billion from PSL 2026
The reported numbers become even more fascinating when compared to last season. The latest data shows that the profits are almost 3.75 times higher than what the PCB earned from the previous edition of the tournament, indicating a huge financial surge in just one year.
It is also being suggested that the PCB’s own share from the central revenue pool is around PKR 1.29 billion. After that amount, the remaining profit is expected to be divided among the 10 franchises, with each team likely to receive around PKR 625 million.
What does the report say?
Sama TV report shared, “The details submitted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to the Senate Standing Committee of the Cabinet Secretariat regarding PSL income and expenditure have revealed that the expansion of the league to eight teams in 2026 resulted in significant financial gains.”
The report further said, “Total expenditure in PSL 2026 recorded over Rs 2.645 billion, while total revenue exceeded Rs 10.195 billion. The PCB made a pre-tax profit of over Rs 7.549 billion from PSL Season 11. During PSL 2025, the PCB recorded a profit of Rs 2 billion, while the profit from PSL 2024 was Rs 2.46 billion. PCB’s share in the central revenue pool was more than Rs 1.29 billion.
Despite record breaking growth, PSL still lags behind IPL
Even with this impressive growth, the financial scale of the PSL is much smaller than that of the Indian Premier League. IPL franchises reportedly operate with revenues running into hundreds of crores of rupees.
An IPL franchise is reportedly expected to generate revenues of around Rs 500-600 crore in FY2025. Amidst the success, BCCI had to face criticism and Sunil Gavaskar gave a befitting reply to the critics.
Talking about PSL 2026, Babar Azam led Peshawar Zalmi to the title with another excellent season with the bat, finishing as one of the top run-scorers of the tournament with 588 runs.