Hyderabad and Sialkot to be the new PSL teams

Hyderabad and Sialkot are the newest additions to the Pakistan Super League (PSL), joining the competition as its seventh and eighth teams from this edition onward. FKS, a multi industrial firm owned by Fawad Sarwar, who also heads the Chicago Kingsmen, and OZ Developers, a real estate company, acquired ownership of the two franchises.

First round of the auction

The bidding for the first team began with a base price of PKR 1.1 billion. FKS Group raised the stakes early by submitting a bid of PKR 1.4 billion. After that surge, the increments in bids remained marginal, eventually ending with FKS Group offering PKR 1.75 billion for the seventh PSL team.

Shortly after outbidding the remaining contenders, CEO Fawad Sarwar announced that the team would represent Hyderabad.

Bid for the eighth team

The inflated numbers from the first round led to an increase in the base price in the next round. This time as well, a bidding war unfolded between the OZ Group and another bidder, I2C, a fintech company. I2C had actively competed with the FKS Group in the previous round. But as before, they were outbid, with OZ Developers securing ownership of the eighth team, which will represent Sialkot, for a whopping PKR 1.85 billion.

With these results, both newcomers enter the competition in a significantly higher annual fee bracket, making Sialkot the most expensive PSL side, followed closely by Hyderabad. It is to be noted that the winning bid will be paid by the owners to the PCB, which runs the PSL, every year for at least the next ten years to retain ownership of the teams.

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