PCB issues notice to franchises over payment of fees for PSL 6

PCB will take ‘strict action’ if fees not paid within 21 days

KARACHI:

The country’s top cricket board has sent notices to the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises over the payment of fees for the league’s next season amid the ongoing debate over financial model.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has sent notices to franchises, regarding payment of fees. But there is no such thing as far as termination of contracts is concerned,” PCB Media Director Samiul Hassan Burney told Express News when asked about the board’s stance on payment of fees for the next PSL season by the franchises.

According to sources, the PCB has told the franchises that the board will be forced to take strict action, which includes termination of contracts, if the fees are not paid within the next 21 days. A notice has also been issued to all the franchises, they added.

The PCB and the PSL franchises are currently in the process of discussing a revised financial model, which suits both parties. A revised model and the financial strain caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have been cited as the reason behind the delay in submission of franchise fee for the PSL’s sixth edition.

As far as the PSL financial model is concerned, the PCB had send two proposals to the franchises on December 22 and also a third and final one after further discussion on December 30. After the final proposal, the PCB had clearly told the franchises that they should accept or reject the proposed model by January 6 while also stating that no further discussion will take place.

Sources further stated that the recent development has put both parties at odds once again and the franchises are currently discussing their next course of action.

According to the revised financial model, the exchange rate for fees is fixed, “in line with the (dollar) value as of December 31, 2020, at Rs161 for the next 14 years.” The dollar rate has been cited as a major cause of concern for the franchises, due to increasing expenses, because the rate was Rs104 when they had bought the team. Few days back, the PCB had agreed to fix the rate at Rs138 however, that is no longer the case.

“Such a process of taking fees will continue till the central income pool has risen to Rs7 billion, after subtracting expenses for PSL season,” sources said, adding that during the stated period, franchises will get 92.5 per cent share from commercial contracts while the remaining sum will be kept by the PCB.

After completion of such a phase, sources added: “The PCB will not take franchise fee for the next 30 years but share of commercial contracts will switch to 70 and 30 per cent between the PCB and franchises, respectively.” The franchise owners are not convinced with such a plan as they want the ratio to be 60:40 that is similar to the Indian Premier League pattern.

It must be noted that the current contract between the PCB and the PSL franchises is of 10 years, after which the franchises fee will increase by 25 per cent. In terms of commercial contracts, the revenue sharing ratio is between 60-95 per cent in favour of the franchises.