It might sound like a sweeping statement but with one single masterstroke, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has vaulted ahead of some of the second tier Twenty20 leagues like the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Sri Lankan Premier League and the Caribbean Premier League (CPLT20).
But much has been said and written about the unexpected success of the PSL that was masterminded by Najam Sethi.
I would instead focus on how the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) can cash on it by making sure that the league doesn’t become a one-hit wonder.
To make sure that the PSL grows into a major, money-making league featuring high-quality cricket, PCB will have to take a series of steps ranging from better marketing to a bigger line-up of foreign stars. And for its long-term sustainability, the Boards will have to find ways and means to bring the league to Pakistan sooner rather than later.
The odds seem to be in PSL’s favour.
The inaugural edition highlighted the fact that cricket is by far the most marketable commodity in Pakistan. It attracted up to 70 percent of Pakistan’s TV-watching public. That’s more than 80 million people watching the event at peak times, according to a rough estimate.
Lucrative TV contracts are not the only way for a league to make money, though they are the biggest money-making source. Sales of jerseys, caps, T-shirts, and jackets together with advertising sales to global corporations fatten the bottom lines of professional leagues like the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL). They can do the same for PSL.
In addition, it is hoped that the two big-city teams - Karachi and Lahore - who have the potential to provide PSL the sort of intense rivalry needed to boost a league’s finances do better in the future editions. Both the Kings and Qalandars flopped in the inaugural league due to a variety of reasons. It was one of the rare areas where PSL failed to live up to expectations as the pre-tournament hype was centred around Karachi and Lahore. There were great expectations from both teams - the richest of the five franchises - but one by one they crashed out of the event to the utter dismay of millions of their fans in the country’s biggest cities. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of Quetta Gladiators and like most am thrilled when an underdog performs beyond expectations. Or Peshawar Zalmi for that matter. And with the ever-green Misbah-ul-Haq leading the Islamabad United, you cannot dislike the capital. But for a professional sports league to attain success, especially when it comes to making money, you need great rivalries. I don’t think that La Liga would have been such a huge success story without the famous clashes involving Barcelona and Real Madrid. In America - the heartland of baseball, MLB has, over the years cashed in on the intense rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
Karachi and Lahore can do the same for PSL. Combined the two cities have a population of over 30 million with the biggest middle-class pockets in the country. If they perform better, the league is going to do better. The franchise owners should do a better job at picking their line-ups for the second edition penciled in for February 2017.
I’ve been emphasising about the money-making results of the PSL because in the end a professional league is about dollars and cents. Such competitions can’t survive if you can’t pay the players, coaches and officials. It has happened with some leagues and it can happen to PSL. No such league can afford any major financial stumbling blocks.
The early signs being really positive, it is unlikely that the PSL will face the sort of hurdles that forced twenty20 leagues like SLPL to close shop. What the PSL needs to do is capitalise on what was a flying start and try to come at par with lucrative leagues like Australia’s Big Bash and even the Indian Premier League - the king of professional Twenty20 competitions. It certainly is a big challenge considering that the Indian cricket board (BCCI) - owners of the IPL - have deep pockets and tremendous clout in world cricket. The Big Bash is also blessed with big pluses and is by far the one T20 league with the best marketing arm that makes it both sexy and profitable.
Money makes the world of professional sport go round. It could very well be the catalyst for future financial growth.
Last Friday, in his otherwise triumphant press conference in Lahore, Sethi rued the fact that while PSL will be better off if it is held in our own backyard, fact remains that the stadiums and other facilities are way better in the UAE that boasts of state-of-the-art venues like the stunning Dubai International Stadium.
Well, the Board should invest in upgrading facilities especially at major centres like Karachi and Lahore, which have been singled out as possible host cities for some of PSL matches next year. For that the Board will need money and that money could be made from PSL. Not right away maybe but in the next two to three years. Deeper pockets will also enable PCB to convince foreign stars to come and play in Pakistan. Show them the money and many of them will come here, at least for a few games.
The Board should also enhance the format of the league and try to add a few more teams. A five-franchise contest seems a bit incomplete.
The league’s chiefs see IPL as their role model but they avoid copying it. Despite being a financial success, IPL remains a controversial enterprise seen by many as a magnet for match-fixers. PSL did well by keeping its first edition clean and should continue doing that in future.
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation, stressed Herman Melville. The PSL should come up with new ideas to add colour and substance to the league. Sethi and Co deserve all the accolades showered at them at the moment. They are basking in the glory of a job well done. But that’s only the start. For the PSL the journey has just begun.