With intentions to expand the Pakistan Super League (PSL) to an eight-team competition starting in 2026, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has once again extended the time for submitting bids for two more franchises. The final bid submission date was previously rescheduled from December 15 to December 22, and it has since been extended to December 24.
The extension was given, according to PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, because of growing interest from possible investors in the USA, Europe, and the Middle East. The most recent extension of two more days was permitted due to bank holidays that fell over the weekend within the updated bidding window, according to a report by Geo Super.
According to a source cited by the Times of India, “the deadline for submitting initial bids has been extended by two days.”
The PCB chairman initially extended the franchise bid deadline, which caused a one-day delay.
“Witnessing growing interest from Europe, the USA, the Middle East and beyond in acquiring new HBL PSL teams, we have decided to extend the bid submission deadline by one week to 22 December 2025,” Naqvi stated during the PSL roadshow.
On January 8, the PSL 11 player auction is set to happen. It is unknown if the auction date will be further postponed with the most recent bid submission extension.
Since the PSL started out as a five-team competition in 2016, this represents the league’s second expansion. In 2018, a sixth team was added as part of the previous expansion. The PCB has extended agreements with five of the six current franchise owners in addition to introducing two new teams.
The future of Multan Sultans is questionable, nevertheless, after former owner Ali Tareen resigned due to disagreements with the board. Before re-tendering the ownership rights on a nine-year period ahead of PSL 12, the PCB is reportedly thinking about running the franchise itself for the next season.
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