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PSL holds roadshows in London and New York to raise profile and attract investors [Update @ post#35]

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The Pakistan Super League (PSL) hosted a star-studded roadshow at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, marking a significant step in the league's international engagement and expansion efforts. The event featured some of Pakistan's biggest cricketing figures, including legendary pacer Wasim Akram and star batter Babar Azam, along with opener Sahibzada Farhan, speedster Haris Rauf, and former PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja, with the goal of engaging UK-based ownership groups.

The proceedings officially commenced with an address by the High Commissioner of Pakistan to the UK, Dr. Mohammad Fasil, who described the PSL as a "symbol of resilience, creativity, and national pride". Salman Naseer, the CEO of HBL PSL, presented an overview of the league's decade-long journey, detailing how it grew from an ambitious concept held in the UAE to one of the world's most exciting leagues. He emphasized its success in bringing world-class cricket back to Pakistan and shared impressive commercial statistics, noting that broadcast and live-streaming rights had multiplied by over 3,000%.

A panel discussion saw current PCB Chairman Mohsin Raza Naqvi declare his vision to elevate the PSL to the world's number one league. He announced new financial incentives for franchise owners and plans to take the PSL to an IPO within a year. Wasim Akram praised the league, ranking it as the world's second-best and highlighting its role in developing local talent. In a later panel, players Haris Rauf and Babar Azam acknowledged the PSL as a vital platform and "shortcut" that significantly boosted their careers.


WhatsApp Image 2025-12-08 at 3.45.10 PM.jpegG7lpjVsaoAAhE4y.jpg
 
Making the PSL the world’s leading league is our mission — a state-of-the-art, internationally equipped cricket stadium to be built in Islamabad; another world-class stadium to be constructed in Muzaffarabad. Mohsin Naqvi

After approving the conversion of PSL into a limited company, we will launch its IPO in the market. From December until the start of PSL 11, concerts will be organized for cricket fans at all venues. — Remarks at the historic PSL London Roadshow at Lord’s Cricket Ground

London, December 8, 2025

PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has said that making the Pakistan Super League the world’s top T20 league is the mission. A modern, fully equipped international-standard cricket stadium will be built in Islamabad, and similarly, a world-class stadium will also be constructed in Muzaffarabad.He said that after approving PSL’s transition into a limited company, its IPO will be launched in the market. From December until the beginning of PSL 11, concerts will be held for cricket fans at all venues.Speaking today at the historic PSL Roadshow at Lord’s Cricket Ground, Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi said that the PSL is emerging as a strong international brand. Increasing the PSL’s global broadcast reach is a key focus. The new tender for PSL’s international media rights has been issued. The PCB has also launched the OTT platform “PCB Live.”
For PSL 11, the prize money for the winning team has been set at 500,000 dollars, while the runner-up will receive 300,000 dollars. The franchise demonstrating the best cricket development will receive 200,000 dollars.

He added that major opportunities exist for investors in the PSL. The panel included Wasim Akram, Ramiz Raja, and PSL Chief Executive Officer Salman Naseer.
 
Savak said:
The ability to raise funds via private investors in the market.
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Has a whole league ever been floated like this before? I would be interested to read more about it. Usually it's individual teams.
 
Savak said:
Marketing to Foreign investors and overseas rich Pakistani businessmen.
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It's a nice way of showing the rich businessmen that if you put some money here you are one handshake away from the establishment and people running the country.

I'm sure a few people will be tempted. PSL franchise can be a gateway to the men in charge
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Has a whole league ever been floated like this before? I would be interested to read more about it. Usually it's individual teams.
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This is a legal question. Someone asked one of the PSL Franchise Owners why don't you list your team on the stock exchange, they responded we would love too but we are paying rent to the PCB, we don't own the teams.
 
Mohsin Naqvi's administration has been proactive when it comes to PSL affairs. He made the bold move to switch to the IPL window when no one else dared too. He is now holding these roadshows and showing pro-activeness in marketing the PSL overseas. He should hold these roadshows in some of the Arab states like UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and maybe Australia.
 
Savak said:
Mohsin Naqvi's administration has been proactive when it comes to PSL affairs. He made the bold move to switch to the IPL window when no one else dared too. He is now holding these roadshows and showing pro-activeness in marketing the PSL overseas. He should hold these roadshows in some of the Arab states like UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and maybe Australia.
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Need to announce an increase in teams budget for players and preferably move to auction.
 
What is the point in doing an IPO? It doesn't make any profit!! They want to tap the ordinary investors who will get fleeced without any returns.
 
Wasim Akram speaking during the PSL roadshow event:

"The best thing about the league is that it is played for only about 34-35 days, maybe a little more next year. It's not like three months, like the other league. Bacchey bade ho jate hain, woh league khatam hi nahi hoti. Foreign players, when they come to Pakistan, prefer to be here for 35-40 days. More than that - two-and-a-half to three months - is a bit too long for everyone. Even I get bored."

"Prime example is the BBL. They started off with two-and-a-half months. They realised after four or five years it wasn't working. Now their duration is about 40 days. That's it. That's the beauty of the PSL. Of course, the talent. Everybody overseas, when I talk to them, they talk about bowling in the IPL and other leagues. They say the PSL, as far as talent is concerned, is definitely No. 1 because we have quality, not quantity."
 
Pakhs said:
Not sure what the benefit of this show was?
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I work in the investor relations/capital markets industry.

Roadshows are done to promote your company and show what you offering to different investors, so that those investors could decide to invest.

I work in the public markets, so basically institutional investors that look to invest in public listed companies are invited to these roadshows.

Considering PCB is looking to expand its league by selling 3 teams, these roadshows is a good way to about things.

The market cap really matters here, and which institute was invited. Like for example Desjardin, citadel, exodus are some capital market firms that invest in companies
Only issue here is, im curious if financial aspect discussion also took place in this roadshow or not
 
Cover Drive Six said:
Purpose is to search for new PSL owners during the roadshow. This is literally like roadside begging. :D

PSL to look for potential owners for new franchises in London Roadshow

The Pakistan Super League will look for potential franchise owners in a Roadshow at Lords in London on December 7, it announced on Tuesday.

The league is set to expand from six to eight teams from it’s next edition with an auction to determine the owners of the two new sides.

“The HBL PSL Roadshow is expected to draw a diverse audience of business leaders, potential franchise owners and cricket supporters eager to engage with one of the sport’s most dynamic and fast-growing leagues,” the Pakistan Cricket Board said.

“As the league prepares for expansion with the addition of two new teams, it has already received significant interest from potential ownership groups across the United Kingdom.”


The London Roadshow aims to build on this momentum by offering investors and cricket lovers an immersive introduction to the league, its commercial ecosystem and the strategic vision driving its next phase of growth.

The two new teams will be named from among Hyderabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad and Sialkot, the PCB had said earlier.

The list was finalised after the valuation reports for the two new teams were received by the PCB by independent auditors.

Meanwhile, barring Multan Sultans, the current owners of the existing five franchises have renewed their ownership agreements with the PCB for the next 10 years.

www.dawn.com

PSL to look for potential owners for new franchises in London Roadshow

The league is set to expand from six to eight teams from it’s next edition with an auction to determine the owners of the two new sides.
www.dawn.com
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Every proper company that are being ran in West conduct road shows to attract investment.
 
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DeadlyVenom said:
What are the benefits of making the PSL a limited company?
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The first goal is to remove PSL from being under PCB and converted into a separate company.

This is a good thing because currently under PCB the PSL can only be funded from PCBs funds and PCB can only invest a limited number of funds into it.

PCBs job is to grow cricket, while PSLs job is to make money and not care about crickets growth. There is always that conflict that goes on.

After PSL is converted into a private limited, than the ownership would be privately held. One model could be where the PSL is owned by all the team owners and the PCB also keeping a stock percentage aswell. So the board members (that run the company) would be made of the PSL owners and the highest share owner becomes the decision maker.

This model is used in North America where the leagues their are owned by the team owners.

The benefit of this is, because team owners own the league, they will make decisions that benefits the league and helps them make more money.

After the company is made into a private limited, than their is an option of going public, by first issuing an IPO. Public limited offers more investment and more funding, but the issue with Public limited is the majority party holder can shift any time, and they become the owner.

Public limited is an option if you want more funds and investment.

Anyways the benefit of private limited is ownership stays with the relevant people and they decide how the league should shape.

Benefit in public limited is, more funds, which means more stadiums bring made better sports rights.
But the issue in public limited is every quarter there is a pressure, and sinde our league only runs for a month, there will always be pressure do make the league do something and make money in all quaters.

Private limited is the better option. Public limited is better for those sports league that are highly commercialized like the IPL.
 
Major said:
The first goal is to remove PSL from being under PCB and converted into a separate company.

This is a good thing because currently under PCB the PSL can only be funded from PCBs funds and PCB can only invest a limited number of funds into it.

PCBs job is to grow cricket, while PSLs job is to make money and not care about crickets growth. There is always that conflict that goes on.

After PSL is converted into a private limited, than the ownership would be privately held. One model could be where the PSL is owned by all the team owners and the PCB also keeping a stock percentage aswell. So the board members (that run the company) would be made of the PSL owners and the highest share owner becomes the decision maker.

This model is used in North America where the leagues their are owned by the team owners.

The benefit of this is, because team owners own the league, they will make decisions that benefits the league and helps them make more money.

After the company is made into a private limited, than their is an option of going public, by first issuing an IPO. Public limited offers more investment and more funding, but the issue with Public limited is the majority party holder can shift any time, and they become the owner.

Public limited is an option if you want more funds and investment.

Anyways the benefit of private limited is ownership stays with the relevant people and they decide how the league should shape.

Benefit in public limited is, more funds, which means more stadiums bring made better sports rights.
But the issue in public limited is every quarter there is a pressure, and sinde our league only runs for a month, there will always be pressure do make the league do something and make money in all quaters.

Private limited is the better option. Public limited is better for those sports league that are highly commercialized like the IPL.
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From your post this North American model works best. PCB must have a stake and be able to make money from this league so they can spend on domestic cricket the same way that BCCI does in India.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
From your post this North American model works best. PCB must have a stake and be able to make money from this league so they can spend on domestic cricket the same way that BCCI does in India.
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I think they wont go ipo as when they go private, saner heads will prevail.
 
MenInG said:
Air miles.
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Apart from having a good time at official expense, what did this achieve? Did 10 new buyers spring up for PSL franchises?

Roadshows are supposed to be for targeted audiences where you should invite UNHW (ultra-high net worth individuals or their reps) - hold them behind closed doors, get the marketing guys to talk with numbers etc - not do a public political drama to impress people who are either already impressed/do not have the cash in hand to make a difference.

Now they are heading for NYC....
 
After an extraordinary reception in London, PSL now arrives in New York. The wait is over as the grand PSL showcase lights up the global superpower’s city today. For the first time in history, preparations are complete for a PSL roadshow in the world’s leading financial hub.

PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has reached New York and will attend the roadshow, where American and overseas Pakistani investors will also participate.

“I thank Almighty Allah that PSL is now shining at the international level,” said Mohsin Naqvi.
 
PCB should organise such road shows at every major city in the world for the next few years. They’re a great spectacle. It’s not always the fans get to witness Ramiz Raja in person.
 
If they can manage to court even 1-2 foreign investors to buy one or more of the teams, it would be big. Even if the investors are overseas/diaspora Pakistanis. Though I imagine PCB would be selling them on the potential long-term benefits of buying a team, because it doesn't seem like an especially profitable investment at the moment.
 
BouncerGuy said:
After an extraordinary reception in London, PSL now arrives in New York. The wait is over as the grand PSL showcase lights up the global superpower’s city today. For the first time in history, preparations are complete for a PSL roadshow in the world’s leading financial hub.

PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has reached New York and will attend the roadshow, where American and overseas Pakistani investors will also participate.

“I thank Almighty Allah that PSL is now shining at the international level,” said Mohsin Naqvi.
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Its more appropriate to delete "extra" and leave the ordinary from the " show " I watched on youtube.
 
MenInG said:
Apart from having a good time at official expense, what did this achieve? Did 10 new buyers spring up for PSL franchises?

Roadshows are supposed to be for targeted audiences where you should invite UNHW (ultra-high net worth individuals or their reps) - hold them behind closed doors, get the marketing guys to talk with numbers etc - not do a public political drama to impress people who are either already impressed/do not have the cash in hand to make a difference.

Now they are heading for NYC....
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" Apart from having a good time at official expense " , that was the whole pupose of this drama , goal acheived.
 
Roadshow is just a travel holiday... PSL bid deadline was increased, why?? 1 of the reasons could be that PCB could not attract many buyers so they are trying to wait for the last moment.
 
PSL 2026 schedule revealed

Pakistan Super League’s 11th edition is planned to be held from March 26 to May 3, 2026, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday, while also announcing that the auction for two proposed new franchises would take place on January 8.

The announcements were made during a PCB investor roadshow in New York, part of an overseas promotional campaign aimed at attracting commercial interest ahead of a potential expansion of the league from six to eight teams.

The PCB has previously indicated that expansion is under consideration, though the addition of new franchises has not yet been formally ratified.

Addressing attendees at the event, Mohsin said the PCB had taken administrative control of the Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium and intended to begin renovation work.

He added that efforts were under way to have the venue ready in time for the PSL, though he acknowledged that completion before the tournament was not guaranteed.

“We are starting Muzaffarabad’s stadium, which we have taken over, and our target is to get it ready before the PSL. If not, then work will be initiated within this year,” he said.

Mohsin also stated that the deadline for submission of bids for the new franchises had been extended to December 22, citing interest from prospective investors.

Source: Dawn
 
The idea of roadshow was good, but the timing was all wrong.

This is why Ali Tareen was absolutely correct. PCB knew that expansion was gonna take place, and they wasted a whole year. For a roadshow to metalize you need atleast a full quater space.

Doing a roadshow in December and than expecting investment just the next day is unrealistic. Also, if you are going to make Wasim Akram the host, than he should be talking about numbers and not what he used to do in his younger days.

PCB should had scheduled this atleast in September. Roadshows are a good thing, and for a good roadshow you either need to have a Research Analyst in your company or hire the services of a capital markets company. These companies provide a targeted approach for these roadshows, infact, alot of times when you get targeting done by the financial institutions themselves, they tend to bring in high turnover companies, which is bad for business.

One of my job is to make a targeted list of investors for Roadshows for clients looking to conduct these in NA or Europe :)

Infact, PCB could had gone to SNP Global which has offices in Pakistan to get this done
 
Major said:
Doing a roadshow in December and than expecting investment just the next day is unrealistic. Also, if you are going to make Wasim Akram the host, than he should be talking about numbers and not what he used to do in his younger days.

PCB should had scheduled this atleast in September. Roadshows are a good thing, and for a good roadshow you either need to have a Research Analyst in your company or hire the services of a capital markets company.
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I liked ur idea. But I will prefer a mix of both for pr sake.Get the invester upfront, do a roadshow and include them to make a proper publicity for future expansion/necessity.
 
Vikram1989 said:
I liked ur idea. But I will prefer a mix of both for pr sake.Get the invester upfront, do a roadshow and include them to make a proper publicity for future expansion/necessity.
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True, roadshows can be used for pr aswell.

But you need a larger window. Atleast a full quater and than also the attendees showing up should be relevant
 
Major said:
True, roadshows can be used for pr aswell.

But you need a larger window. Atleast a full quater and than also the attendees showing up should be relevant
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You are right, the window is too short for any serious investor to do the due diligence.

I dont think PCB has committed to selling it in this cycle. They will maybe be content with finding a buyer for Multan.
 
Just a few months in PSL, and they are also talking about two new teams, getting Muzaffarabad stadium ready to host the league, and then retentions, new signings. It's already mid December.
 
Bhaijaan said:
PCB should organise such road shows at every major city in the world for the next few years. They’re a great spectacle. It’s not always the fans get to witness Ramiz Raja in person.
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He was sitting next to me in a rainy lahore, having coffee in gulberg back in 2023. :)

Rambo has great presence.
 
I understand this is a desperate time for PCB to rake in investments in the PSL. From a financial point of view I like the idea behind it but the planning and execution is completely wrong.

Let's break down on some of the areas where PCB is loosing grounds.

1. Marketing - Now PP is literally the home of Pakistan cricket and fans. Now how many of legit fans knew about this roadshow happening before the actual week in which this happened? If the answer to that question is less than 20% then you'll realise how big a disaster this was marketing wise. There was absolutely no buzz or hype around this event. We don't even have a broader view of the participants in this session. It looks like a press conference rather than a townhall or proper event.
On this same point I want to stress upon the downfall of PCB social media and marketing team. I believe it was 4 or 5 years back when PCB launched its social media platforms in full swing and they started making candid videos with cricketers, episodes and shows like interviews and even covering live domestic games with post match discussions. All of that has gone down the drain. Like what literally happened? Pakistan has a massive population who uses internet on a daily basis and are active on social media. This was the best way to spread the word or expand our cricketing in the country but alas rather than making our cricketers into stars it seems we are content to limit our cricketing circle so our little egos and power remain inflated.

2. Where are the numbers?
This roadshow literally had only one objective which is to attract investment. I have not seen any investment being made without a due diligence on financial records. We had Naqvi, Akram and Raja as part of the panel but literally any person who is familiar with PCB and PSL financial model being made part of panel would have contributed so much more. We need to literally tell the world the returns on their investments in short term and long term. Impact on societies and spreading awareness. Ability to construct social fabric of a poor country through this investment. A lot of big companies do not mind spending on investment if the investment can whitewash their societal and climate contributions so atleast sell that aspect.

3. Timing
Are we literally in search of new funding 3 months or so before the tournament kicks off? Are we mistaking PSL for a concert or a one-off event? This is a long-term investment and there needs to be much more serious considerations being put together for us to successfully and organically grow as a brand. The not so serious attitude will not be appreciated even by investors who might have been remotely interested.

4. Improve PSL then attract investments
What we have seen is that PSL (this includes cricket skills, promotions, broadcast and player availability) brand has been on the decline for the past 2 years or so. The crowds, stadiums, level of cricket and not so serious competition has started to hurt the brand. We need investment being made at the grassroot level to improve the PSL brand.

I personally believe this was a waste of money and very hopeful from PSL management. I would recommend that between now and next season of PSL hire a financial company that can build up a profile of the organization and put together a more detailed and thorough presentation for PSL. The financial representatives should also be tasked for presenting the brand to external investors if we are serious of gaining traction with international investors. In the meantime Naqvi and co should do what they can which is to improve the PSL domestically.
 
Extra_Cover said:
I understand this is a desperate time for PCB to rake in investments in the PSL. From a financial point of view I like the idea behind it but the planning and execution is completely wrong.

Let's break down on some of the areas where PCB is loosing grounds.

1. Marketing - Now PP is literally the home of Pakistan cricket and fans. Now how many of legit fans knew about this roadshow happening before the actual week in which this happened? If the answer to that question is less than 20% then you'll realise how big a disaster this was marketing wise. There was absolutely no buzz or hype around this event. We don't even have a broader view of the participants in this session. It looks like a press conference rather than a townhall or proper event.
On this same point I want to stress upon the downfall of PCB social media and marketing team. I believe it was 4 or 5 years back when PCB launched its social media platforms in full swing and they started making candid videos with cricketers, episodes and shows like interviews and even covering live domestic games with post match discussions. All of that has gone down the drain. Like what literally happened? Pakistan has a massive population who uses internet on a daily basis and are active on social media. This was the best way to spread the word or expand our cricketing in the country but alas rather than making our cricketers into stars it seems we are content to limit our cricketing circle so our little egos and power remain inflated.

2. Where are the numbers?
This roadshow literally had only one objective which is to attract investment. I have not seen any investment being made without a due diligence on financial records. We had Naqvi, Akram and Raja as part of the panel but literally any person who is familiar with PCB and PSL financial model being made part of panel would have contributed so much more. We need to literally tell the world the returns on their investments in short term and long term. Impact on societies and spreading awareness. Ability to construct social fabric of a poor country through this investment. A lot of big companies do not mind spending on investment if the investment can whitewash their societal and climate contributions so atleast sell that aspect.

3. Timing
Are we literally in search of new funding 3 months or so before the tournament kicks off? Are we mistaking PSL for a concert or a one-off event? This is a long-term investment and there needs to be much more serious considerations being put together for us to successfully and organically grow as a brand. The not so serious attitude will not be appreciated even by investors who might have been remotely interested.

4. Improve PSL then attract investments
What we have seen is that PSL (this includes cricket skills, promotions, broadcast and player availability) brand has been on the decline for the past 2 years or so. The crowds, stadiums, level of cricket and not so serious competition has started to hurt the brand. We need investment being made at the grassroot level to improve the PSL brand.

I personally believe this was a waste of money and very hopeful from PSL management. I would recommend that between now and next season of PSL hire a financial company that can build up a profile of the organization and put together a more detailed and thorough presentation for PSL. The financial representatives should also be tasked for presenting the brand to external investors if we are serious of gaining traction with international investors. In the meantime Naqvi and co should do what they can which is to improve the PSL domestically.
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My biggest concern is that when i see the videos, i see 99% of the attendees were Pakistani's. Hardly any gora, well renowned foreign businessman who attended which reflects a lack of international interest in the PSL. This would never happen if IPL ever held a roadshow, heck IPL doesn't even need to hold any roadshows as everyone flocks to the IPL themselves.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Look at the level of apathy in our people.

PCB tries to drum up interest, and they are still criticised.

You can never win with Pakistanis.
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This deserved a long reply & I had work before so couldn't. Hopefully you'll be patient enough to read all of it.

There's a difference between "trying to change up things" & "pretending to change up things" & unfortunately the efforts of PCB from outside looking in, fall completely in the second category.

If they had an itinerary that read something like

Land in NY at 7 am.
Attend first Pakistani fan gathering along with Ramiz, & Wasim between 9:30-11:00 am
Meet bigger investors (already handpicked by the Pakistani embassy staff) for lunch & hi-tea (11:30 to 2:00 pm)
Meet Willow execs (2:30 pm)
Evening meeting with Cricket USA execs (4:00 to 5:00 pm)
Main even & dinner with full Pakistani diaspora & investors (7:00 to 10:00 pm)

End of Day 1 - end up in the hotel

Similar itinerary for Day 2.

Catch the flight at 11:00 pm back for Lahore.

This along with solid KPIs like "Upselling the OTT platform to 2K people", "Marketing of PSL in Asian community", etc. would make this a proper tour. You also would save on the hotel stay where instead of 3 nights, you'd just spend one night in a hotel or embassy & then just keep working with clear targets and something to show for in terms of tangible progress.


I feel that many people complain about the players or are critical of them when the cricketers are the least to blame as they are putting in an honest shift while executives are pampered like desi mothers pamper their only son. Theatrics do not help Pakistan and neither our cricket will have any benefit from them. If they want people to invest in PSL & believe it'll make money, they should first invest their own money. Why chase after overseas Pakistanis when people like Naqvi themselves run business empires?

There are also core issues with the PSL

1. The foreign players have complained that there is nothing for them to do when they are at PSL owing to the security situation. How can you attract big names when they have the alternative of playing IPL which is way more lucrative & also don't have to be locked inside a hotel?

2. How will you attract people in your own country when your previous investors like Ali Tareen (who I dislike, btw) have just dropped the franchise because PCB never wanted to improve or change?

3. Who are you even marketing the PSL to outside of Pakistan? Did you target a competitor of Willow in USA where Pak fans can actually watch their own cricket? Did you market your OTT platform?

4. It's easy to say PSL will be the biggest league but how? Where is the roadmap? "Concerts to start one month before the start of PSL in the stadiums" will do what for the PSL? Is that the marketing strategy? Who & how we are going to market these concerts? What's the point of marketing a concert when we can directly start marketing PSL to our audience? How are you increasing the fan engagement? What is even the goal for fan engagement & what's the gate receipt revenue target? Have you sold the hospitality boxes to big corporations? How to you plan to sell them? Is Tapal Tea corner the best thing that you have to offer? Is handing over JJ hampers after one of the fans hits a wicket enough to do anything substantial?

I am even willing to admit that maybe it all worked out with the roadshows and they have a solid business plan but if it did & they have a great plan then where's the transparency? Show the reports, the return on investment of such events and shut all naysayers like me up.


Here's something from my personal experience. I worked with a company where our top management mostly came from working for Nishat Linen. One of my bosses who was frank with me would tell us that Mian Mansha would send the MDs on foreign tours but these tours were so dreaded that no senior MD wanted to go on them as they were labeled "Heart attack tours". It was because Mansha gave them a strict itinerary every day where they had to meet retailers, resellers, whole sellers, new clients, old clients, etc. with strict sales targets every day and then they'd get a call at Pakistan standard 9:00 am (no matter what time zone they were in) where Mansha would ask them only one question which was, "kinna kapra wecheya?" (How many meters of clothes have you managed to sell?).

If Mansha can do this in private sector, why is it that we cannot replicate all of that in the public sector?

Also, at Savak, this regime is not proactive about PSL in any form or way. They had to move it to the IPL window last year because of the champions trophy & this year because of the T20 world cup. Everything else is just the usual clown show of looking busy and doing nothing.

Cricket is the only sport in Pakistan that has natural grass roots interest & financial means. It's being run by clowns because of the political interference & whatnot. As long as this isn't corrected, nothing will change for cricket or PSL.
 
The PCB & Mohsin Naqvi is trying too hard to show that PSL is as good as IPL or close to it. Nothing makes Pakistanis more happy that telling them that they are as good as India or close to it. But at some point all these big claims starts looking ridiculous. Like 1 day PSL will be bigger rhan IPL - do u think any decent investor or business group take such claims seriously. It will come across aa hubris. Its one thing for fans to make such claims but the PCB chief should be more mature & restrained

In reality forget IPL , PSL is not even close to SA20 or BBL. U can fool domestic audiences with these foreign junkies but foreign investors wont get fooled so easily. They understand business & want to see hard data & figures. For that they dont need roadshows - in this era of internet & social media , nothing stays hidden. U can do homework fron ur offices

Imagine I m an investor. I saw empty stands for last season matches. I saw Ali Tareen's outburts on twitter. After that u think I will get impressed by a meet & greet party ??

PSL needs to get realistic
 
NishanKonar said:
The PCB & Mohsin Naqvi is trying too hard to show that PSL is as good as IPL or close to it. Nothing makes Pakistanis more happy that telling them that they are as good as India or close to it. But at some point all these big claims starts looking ridiculous. Like 1 day PSL will be bigger rhan IPL - do u think any decent investor or business group take such claims seriously. It will come across aa hubris. Its one thing for fans to make such claims but the PCB chief should be more mature & restrained

In reality forget IPL , PSL is not even close to SA20 or BBL. U can fool domestic audiences with these foreign junkies but foreign investors wont get fooled so easily. They understand business & want to see hard data & figures. For that they dont need roadshows - in this era of internet & social media , nothing stays hidden. U can do homework fron ur offices

Imagine I m an investor. I saw empty stands for last season matches. I saw Ali Tareen's outburts on twitter. After that u think I will get impressed by a meet & greet party ??

PSL needs to get realistic
Click to expand...
You have to start somewhere. there's nothing wrong with setting goals.

personally I think PSL would do quite well with foreign investors but they have to pull some people in and make it worthwhile. You also have to decide which check size fits. I think a mid level football team owner or someone who owned a smaller sporting franchise in the US (or a donor to a college sports team) would be a much better fit than trying to go after Shad Khan or the Glazer family. Those guys are just too big to buy PSL franchises.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
You are right, the window is too short for any serious investor to do the due diligence.

I dont think PCB has committed to selling it in this cycle. They will maybe be content with finding a buyer for Multan.
Click to expand...
Whats even more disturbing is they are doing a road show in USA in mid december. People are usually on leaves during this time of the year. This is the worst time to have a roadshow.
 
GoUgandaCranes said:
This deserved a long reply & I had work before so couldn't. Hopefully you'll be patient enough to read all of it.

There's a difference between "trying to change up things" & "pretending to change up things" & unfortunately the efforts of PCB from outside looking in, fall completely in the second category.

If they had an itinerary that read something like

Land in NY at 7 am.
Attend first Pakistani fan gathering along with Ramiz, & Wasim between 9:30-11:00 am
Meet bigger investors (already handpicked by the Pakistani embassy staff) for lunch & hi-tea (11:30 to 2:00 pm)
Meet Willow execs (2:30 pm)
Evening meeting with Cricket USA execs (4:00 to 5:00 pm)
Main even & dinner with full Pakistani diaspora & investors (7:00 to 10:00 pm)

End of Day 1 - end up in the hotel

Similar itinerary for Day 2.

Catch the flight at 11:00 pm back for Lahore.

This along with solid KPIs like "Upselling the OTT platform to 2K people", "Marketing of PSL in Asian community", etc. would make this a proper tour. You also would save on the hotel stay where instead of 3 nights, you'd just spend one night in a hotel or embassy & then just keep working with clear targets and something to show for in terms of tangible progress.


I feel that many people complain about the players or are critical of them when the cricketers are the least to blame as they are putting in an honest shift while executives are pampered like desi mothers pamper their only son. Theatrics do not help Pakistan and neither our cricket will have any benefit from them. If they want people to invest in PSL & believe it'll make money, they should first invest their own money. Why chase after overseas Pakistanis when people like Naqvi themselves run business empires?

There are also core issues with the PSL

1. The foreign players have complained that there is nothing for them to do when they are at PSL owing to the security situation. How can you attract big names when they have the alternative of playing IPL which is way more lucrative & also don't have to be locked inside a hotel?

2. How will you attract people in your own country when your previous investors like Ali Tareen (who I dislike, btw) have just dropped the franchise because PCB never wanted to improve or change?

3. Who are you even marketing the PSL to outside of Pakistan? Did you target a competitor of Willow in USA where Pak fans can actually watch their own cricket? Did you market your OTT platform?

4. It's easy to say PSL will be the biggest league but how? Where is the roadmap? "Concerts to start one month before the start of PSL in the stadiums" will do what for the PSL? Is that the marketing strategy? Who & how we are going to market these concerts? What's the point of marketing a concert when we can directly start marketing PSL to our audience? How are you increasing the fan engagement? What is even the goal for fan engagement & what's the gate receipt revenue target? Have you sold the hospitality boxes to big corporations? How to you plan to sell them? Is Tapal Tea corner the best thing that you have to offer? Is handing over JJ hampers after one of the fans hits a wicket enough to do anything substantial?

I am even willing to admit that maybe it all worked out with the roadshows and they have a solid business plan but if it did & they have a great plan then where's the transparency? Show the reports, the return on investment of such events and shut all naysayers like me up.


Here's something from my personal experience. I worked with a company where our top management mostly came from working for Nishat Linen. One of my bosses who was frank with me would tell us that Mian Mansha would send the MDs on foreign tours but these tours were so dreaded that no senior MD wanted to go on them as they were labeled "Heart attack tours". It was because Mansha gave them a strict itinerary every day where they had to meet retailers, resellers, whole sellers, new clients, old clients, etc. with strict sales targets every day and then they'd get a call at Pakistan standard 9:00 am (no matter what time zone they were in) where Mansha would ask them only one question which was, "kinna kapra wecheya?" (How many meters of clothes have you managed to sell?).

If Mansha can do this in private sector, why is it that we cannot replicate all of that in the public sector?

Also, at Savak, this regime is not proactive about PSL in any form or way. They had to move it to the IPL window last year because of the champions trophy & this year because of the T20 world cup. Everything else is just the usual clown show of looking busy and doing nothing.

Cricket is the only sport in Pakistan that has natural grass roots interest & financial means. It's being run by clowns because of the political interference & whatnot. As long as this isn't corrected, nothing will change for cricket or PSL.
Click to expand...
A great post. And you hit the nail on the head in many of your points.

I'll be honest. My expectation from the PCB is always low. A long time ago we had a test match in Pindi or Karachi v England. I think it was in Inzi days. Our fans sat on concrete stands, during drinks break a police officer got bored and made ll the fans in row 10 move to row 1 and row 9 to row 2 etc etc. All for no reason. Thats my expecation of PCB and Pakistan cricket.

I can see Naqvi trying to slowly move things in the right direction. Sure there is work to be done but I'm the " Rome wasn't built in a day camp" when it comes to the PCB.
Perhaps I am overly gravious to them.
 
NishanKonar said:
The PCB & Mohsin Naqvi is trying too hard to show that PSL is as good as IPL or close to it. Nothing makes Pakistanis more happy that telling them that they are as good as India or close to it. But at some point all these big claims starts looking ridiculous. Like 1 day PSL will be bigger rhan IPL - do u think any decent investor or business group take such claims seriously. It will come across aa hubris. Its one thing for fans to make such claims but the PCB chief should be more mature & restrained

In reality forget IPL , PSL is not even close to SA20 or BBL. U can fool domestic audiences with these foreign junkies but foreign investors wont get fooled so easily. They understand business & want to see hard data & figures. For that they dont need roadshows - in this era of internet & social media , nothing stays hidden. U can do homework fron ur offices

Imagine I m an investor. I saw empty stands for last season matches. I saw Ali Tareen's outburts on twitter. After that u think I will get impressed by a meet & greet party ??

PSL needs to get realistic
Click to expand...
Where is the hard data that you are relying on to show PSL is not close to BBL and SA20?
 
Atleast get the experts on the panel discussion for goodness sake. Cricketers are not panelists for a show on investment, business and economics.

Agreeing completely with the general comments in this thread that this is money flushed down the drain to appease a few. There's no sense-check on the KPIs and just stating the vision for being No.1 by citing growth in online viewership is laughable.
 
IPL has attracted investment from the Saudi's. Why are the PCB and Pakistani government struggling to get the Saudi's or even the Chinese to invest in the PSL given the so called close relationship we have with these two countries.

Pakistan given the numerous over tures, deals it is offering to the Trump Administration i.e. crypto currency, oil, gas, minerals in Balochistan, KPK, offering to be part of the Abraham Accords, willing to send Pakistani troops to Gaza for peace keeping purposes, surely they could have requested American investment in the PSL.
 
MenInG said:
Apart from having a good time at official expense, what did this achieve? Did 10 new buyers spring up for PSL franchises?

Roadshows are supposed to be for targeted audiences where you should invite UNHW (ultra-high net worth individuals or their reps) - hold them behind closed doors, get the marketing guys to talk with numbers etc - not do a public political drama to impress people who are either already impressed/do not have the cash in hand to make a difference.

Now they are heading for NYC....
Click to expand...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1999740152600756328

I rest my case.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
A great post. And you hit the nail on the head in many of your points.

I'll be honest. My expectation from the PCB is always low. A long time ago we had a test match in Pindi or Karachi v England. I think it was in Inzi days. Our fans sat on concrete stands, during drinks break a police officer got bored and made ll the fans in row 10 move to row 1 and row 9 to row 2 etc etc. All for no reason. Thats my expecation of PCB and Pakistan cricket.

I can see Naqvi trying to slowly move things in the right direction. Sure there is work to be done but I'm the " Rome wasn't built in a day camp" when it comes to the PCB.
Perhaps I am overly gravious to them.
Click to expand...

Good to see some people hopeful about Pak cricket but I don't see that happening personally with the current body of work and behind the scenes efforts of PCB.

My bold prediction is that ILT20 has a higher chance to become a bigger league than PSL in a few years. UAE cricket with all its imports is steadily getting better & with all the money that is being poured, it's about time that their performances start mirroring their efforts. As of now only fringe players from sub-continent move to UAE but soon players from RSA, UK, will also make the choice to play for UAE than their respective countries. This is already happening in their U19 girls cricket so it's bound to be replicated at the senior level too.
 
PCB is risking falling behind. Even Big Bash is moving towards private ownership and a lot of IPL franchise owners will come in droves to purchase the teams. Cricket Australia is expected to earn $500 million from the sale of the teams. Based on the numbers i have seen, the PCB is earnings pennies at best in comparison, they cannot do much more given the state of the Pakistani economy which is not likely to improve anytime soon hence why now you are hearing talks about IPO's and a PSL OTT platform.
 
@Rana did you attend this in hopes of meeting Naqvi and pleading your case to kick out RizBar permanently? I remember a few years ago you were going to attempt to meet Mickey Arthur at Heathrow
 
Savak said:
IPL has attracted investment from the Saudi's. Why are the PCB and Pakistani government struggling to get the Saudi's or even the Chinese to invest in the PSL given the so called close relationship we have with these two countries.

Pakistan given the numerous over tures, deals it is offering to the Trump Administration i.e. crypto currency, oil, gas, minerals in Balochistan, KPK, offering to be part of the Abraham Accords, willing to send Pakistani troops to Gaza for peace keeping purposes, surely they could have requested American investment in the PSL.
Click to expand...
Investments dont happen due to close relationships

Investors dont invest in a business bcoz the owners are great friends. Nobody invests like that. They invest if they see ROI. Now if investors are staying away - then thats bcoz the ROI is not great

No amount of PR and roadshows will help unless u present a case for ROI. This is why these roadshows make zero sense. No investor wants to know how Wasim Akram swung the ball during his playing days. Literally nobody cares abt such stuff when u r taking a decision to invest or not
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Where is the hard data that you are relying on to show PSL is not close to BBL and SA20?
Click to expand...
U dont need hard data. Just a cusrory glance at a few matches & u will see the difference

I saw a few PSL games & the stands wer empty. SA20 & BBL have decent crowds for most games

Imagine a league thats struggling to sell itsef to its own domestic audiences. And u want to convince foreign investors that its worth investing
 
NishanKonar said:
Investments dont happen due to close relationships

Investors dont invest in a business bcoz the owners are great friends. Nobody invests like that. They invest if they see ROI. Now if investors are staying away - then thats bcoz the ROI is not great

No amount of PR and roadshows will help unless u present a case for ROI. This is why these roadshows make zero sense. No investor wants to know how Wasim Akram swung the ball during his playing days. Literally nobody cares abt such stuff when u r taking a decision to invest or not
Click to expand...
Roadshows are done for generating capital. Phrases like ROI are cliches.

To say that roadshows make zero sense shows you dont know what you are talking about.
 
NishanKonar said:
U dont need hard data. Just a cusrory glance at a few matches & u will see the difference

I saw a few PSL games & the stands wer empty. SA20 & BBL have decent crowds for most games

Imagine a league thats struggling to sell itsef to its own domestic audiences. And u want to convince foreign investors that its worth investing
Click to expand...
Yes you do need hard data.

Again, just like the post you made from your backside about roadshows not mattering and using indain drama cliches that only ROI matters

You dont know what you are talking about and now making judgement on a league based on stands...
 
NishanKonar said:
U dont need hard data. Just a cusrory glance at a few matches & u will see the difference

I saw a few PSL games & the stands wer empty. SA20 & BBL have decent crowds for most games

Imagine a league thats struggling to sell itsef to its own domestic audiences. And u want to convince foreign investors that its worth investing
Click to expand...
Crowd attraction is a major issue, by that metric it is behind the SA20 and BBL, it is an important measure of engagement but not the only measure of engagement.

In other areas - viewership, online engagement etc it is doing ok.

But yes, serious work must be done on the crowds, especially in Karachi, as the tournament looks very soulless at times.

I only mention the hard data because you refer to it here "U can fool domestic audiences with these foreign junkies but foreign investors wont get fooled so easily. They understand business & want to see hard data & figures." so was wondering if there was anything that indicated the gap between the leagues.
 
NishanKonar said:
The PCB & Mohsin Naqvi is trying too hard to show that PSL is as good as IPL or close to it. Nothing makes Pakistanis more happy that telling them that they are as good as India or close to it. But at some point all these big claims starts looking ridiculous. Like 1 day PSL will be bigger rhan IPL - do u think any decent investor or business group take such claims seriously. It will come across aa hubris. Its one thing for fans to make such claims but the PCB chief should be more mature & restrained

In reality forget IPL , PSL is not even close to SA20 or BBL. U can fool domestic audiences with these foreign junkies but foreign investors wont get fooled so easily. They understand business & want to see hard data & figures. For that they dont need roadshows - in this era of internet & social media , nothing stays hidden. U can do homework fron ur offices

Imagine I m an investor. I saw empty stands for last season matches. I saw Ali Tareen's outburts on twitter. After that u think I will get impressed by a meet & greet party ??

PSL needs to get realistic
Click to expand...
Pcb is saying what fans want to listen

But investors don't invest just with big talk
 
People need to realise that ipl fitst sold its broadcast rights for 1bn usd before selling a team

What is psl broadcast rights value?
 
T
Major said:
Yes you do need hard data.

Again, just like the post you made from your backside about roadshows not mattering and using indain drama cliches that only ROI matters

You dont know what you are talking about and now making judgement on a league based on stands...
Click to expand...
The roadshows that happen are investor presentations. Where u present stats , data , projections , cash flow statements

These roadshows are just PR stuff. I mean what does people like Wasim Akram do at a roadshow ?

U really think investor will put $ 20 mn bcoz Wasim Akram told him how he bowled outswinger ?
 
Major said:
Roadshows are done for generating capital. Phrases like ROI are cliches.

To say that roadshows make zero sense shows you dont know what you are talking about.
Click to expand...
How do u generate capital from investors without showing future ROI potential ?
 
From what it seems, roadshow is a desperate attempt to seek for investors , but PSL didn't realised that letting Tareen go is a PR disaster.
JWD is a big group in Pakistan, the potential investor will know of the idiosyncratic risk associated with PSL.
 
Kianig89 said:
From what it seems, roadshow is a desperate attempt to seek for investors , but PSL didn't realised that letting Tareen go is a PR disaster.
JWD is a big group in Pakistan, the potential investor will know of the idiosyncratic risk associated with PSL.
Click to expand...
This

Imagine trying to wooe foreign investor when ur existing domestic investor ( with better on ground awareness & significant political clout ) is crying foul
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Crowd attraction is a major issue, by that metric it is behind the SA20 and BBL, it is an important measure of engagement but not the only measure of engagement.

In other areas - viewership, online engagement etc it is doing ok.

But yes, serious work must be done on the crowds, especially in Karachi, as the tournament looks very soulless at times.

I only mention the hard data because you refer to it here "U can fool domestic audiences with these foreign junkies but foreign investors wont get fooled so easily. They understand business & want to see hard data & figures." so was wondering if there was anything that indicated the gap between the leagues.
Click to expand...
Crowd attendance is very good proxy for success of any league

Things like viewership , online engagement means little bcoz its difficult to monetise in a country like Pakistan

Digital monetisation is tough even in a country like India where internet & smartphone penetration is close to 70% & incomes almost double of Pakistan
 
NishanKonar said:
Crowd attendance is very good proxy for success of any league
Click to expand...
Crowd attendance was very good to full house in the Lahore, Multan etc games. Only Karachi had empty stadiums because the whole area surrounding the National Stadium was shut down and it took fans around 6-7 hours to get to the stadium, so many opted to avoid the hassle.
Any way as long as players have to be given presidential level security, cities have to be shut down just to hold a league, no way will it ever be in competition to leagues held in normal circumstances. Need to fix the country's situation first and rest will fic itself and I don't see it happening any time soon or in the future either so this is all topi dramaybaazi.
 
G0rmintAunty said:
Crowd attendance was very good to full house in the Lahore, Multan etc games. Only Karachi had empty stadiums because the whole area surrounding the National Stadium was shut down and it took fans around 6-7 hours to get to the stadium, so many opted to avoid the hassle.
Any way as long as players have to be given presidential level security, cities have to be shut down just to hold a league, no way will it ever be in competition to leagues held in normal circumstances. Need to fix the country's situation first and rest will fic itself and I don't see it happening any time soon or in the future either so this is all topi dramaybaazi.
Click to expand...
Even if it will take 30 minutes to reach stadium, Karachi fans will still disappoint and we will always see empty stadium.
 
Ball Blazer said:
Even if it will take 30 minutes to reach stadium, Karachi fans will still disappoint and we will always see empty stadium.
Click to expand...
Yeah, could be, I was in Pak last month and nobody seemed to know or even care we have a tri series with SL and Zim going on. People seemed much more interested in their daily lives and problems compared to the Lahoris, Multanis etc. HoweverI saw many more people outside in malls, restaurants, bazaars etc compared to when I was last there 14 years ago, so it seems they have just lost interest in kirkut.
 
G0rmintAunty said:
Crowd attendance was very good to full house in the Lahore, Multan etc games. Only Karachi had empty stadiums because the whole area surrounding the National Stadium was shut down and it took fans around 6-7 hours to get to the stadium, so many opted to avoid the hassle.
Any way as long as players have to be given presidential level security, cities have to be shut down just to hold a league, no way will it ever be in competition to leagues held in normal circumstances. Need to fix the country's situation first and rest will fic itself and I don't see it happening any time soon or in the future either so this is all topi dramaybaazi.
Click to expand...
This is the thing. First fix things on the ground. Get better crowds. Sort out issues with current owners.

Then do these foreign junkies with foreign investors. As of now its just a waste of money
 
NishanKonar said:
T

The roadshows that happen are investor presentations. Where u present stats , data , projections , cash flow statements

These roadshows are just PR stuff. I mean what does people like Wasim Akram do at a roadshow ?

U really think investor will put $ 20 mn bcoz Wasim Akram told him how he bowled outswinger ?
Click to expand...
Roadshows are also done for pr aswell.

Also, unless you attended it or have an attendee list pull out, what do you know what was discussed in detail.
 
NishanKonar said:
This is the thing. First fix things on the ground. Get better crowds. Sort out issues with current owners.

Then do these foreign junkies with foreign investors. As of now its just a waste of money
Click to expand...
I dont think we need an indian to tell us what to do. The league is doing just fine mr. Kumar
 
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