PSL franchises want Pak rupees as operational currency instead of US dollar

KARACHI: The six Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises in a letter to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have put forth their demands to amend changes in the franchise deal to make it more financially sustainable.

In the letter addressed to Ehsan Mani, the cricket body's chairperson, the PSL franchises highlighted that one of the reasons behind the loss of $15-18 million they face every year is depreciation of the Pakistani rupee.

“It is highlighted that franchises as a group are losing between $15-18mn every year in the PSL," reads the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by Geo.tv.

"While the next asset sales cycle is expected to improve this somewhat, the impending economic slowdown, the dramatic depreciation of the PKR, the currency mismatch in the franchise revenue and cost sources, along with the excessive taxation by PRA/FBR, have raised serious concerns about the financial sustainability of all teams,” the franchises wrote.

Highlighting the losses due to currency valuation, the letter states that each franchise has lost roughly 25-35 percent due to the currency valuations.

It has also demanded that currency of operation should be converted from US dollars to Pakistani rupees, similar to what the Indian Premier League (IPL) does.

“The league needs to make a concentrated effort towards shifting to PKR as the currency of operation. All player and coaches salaries, draft categories etc need to be set in PKR.” It stated.

“Any tax hit of foreign players that is being borne by the league and Franchises needs to be directly borne by the players/coaches. If they are playing in a Pakistani league they should be paying the relevant taxes,” it added.

The franchises have also recommended that already agreed-upon deals in greenbacks should be pegged at Rs105 a dollar.

“The agreement stipulates this be done at the going USD rate whereas we recommend this be done at the equivalent value of the USD as of the bid date and that PKR value retained throughout the term of the agreement,” it added.

The franchises also demanded to revise the existing revenue sharing formula to minimize their share of the burden.

According to the suggested method, the franchises are eyeing a 90 percent share from central media rights revenue and 75 percent from gate receiving and central sponsorship pool. They have also demanded the broadcasting cost should be majorly shared by the PCB.

“We propose a 75/25 divide, where 75% of the Broadcast Production cost is borne by PCB and 25% by the franchises,” their demands in the letter read.

The PSL franchises have also requested from PCB to talk with the government for a tax waiver.

Regretting the players’ unavailability for commercial activities of the franchises, the letter states that the PCB has been unable to do much to address this concern in the past three years and demanded an annual calendar for the players' availability.

“All players/coaches need to be made available for minimum 5 team appearances totalling up to 30 hours FOC as part of their regular tri-tripartite contracts,” they demanded.

“A yearly calendar or a six-month calendar, if yearly is not possible, needs to to be floated to Franchises in advance and followed which incorporates availability windows of Franchisees’ international level players so the teams can plan various activation with them and leverage their players to develop their team’s connection with the fans and the city as well as fulfil commercial partner obligations,” the letter adds.

The letter further suggests that the PCB needs to make all efforts to bring back the league in its entirety to Pakistan as soon as possible.

“A plan for the revitalization of suitable venues/stadiums in all Franchise cities needs to be developed and shared with an aggressive timeline agreed upon.

"It is the collective opinion of all Franchises that the current 8,10,12 model of Pak games is conservative,” it states.