10 How the HBL PSL became Pakistan cricket’s financial lifeline
14 As the HBL PSL looks to the next decade, its stakeholders need to take control
20 In it for the money? Unlikely. But who are the HBL PSL’s franchise owners?
24 When the HBL PSL comes to town 25 Faysal Bank’s Bahraini parent calls off a long running courtship with GFH 26 Pakistan’s tech service exports rise for 18th straight month
28 In Padel, Pakistanis might find a different kind of sports investment
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Note from the editorial board
The miracle called the HBL PSL
The HBL PSL rose from unlikely beginnings to become a mainstay of the international franchise cricket calendar. In many ways it is a miracle that comes from belief. It must be emulated.
When the HBL PSL comes knocking, lives change. We do not mean this in the sense that the carnival is in town and people are excited to watch the attraction. We are instead talking about the flurry of economic activity that comes with it.
This economic activity is difficult to quantify but it is definitely tangible. During the course of compiling this special edition, this publication’s reporters reached out to a wide range of people involved in the HBL PSL. There is the Pakistan Cricket Board, the franchise owners, and major sponsors that are directly involved in the finances of the tournament. Then there are others.
Take, for example, streaming. Last year, the live streaming rights for the HBL PSL earned Rs 93.17 crore. For platforms that provide live streaming, the HBL PSL has been an entryway that has made the concept of streaming possible in Pakistan. Cricket was the reason Pakistanis began subscribing to these platforms, and now that they are familiar with them, they stream outside of cricket too. But every year during the HBL PSL season, these streaming services see a major uptick in business as people subscribe to watch the games.
There are others as well. Sponsorship value for the HBL PSL was in the billions, and retail oriented products reported an increase in sales due to marketing and special offers. In Lahore, the owners of sporting goods shops told us there is an influx of people looking to buy merchandise every year when the HBL PSL rolls around. When they come to buy the merch, they also buy more tennis balls, tape, and bats. The HBL PSL is what you would call “the on season” for these sports retailers. There are others that benefit too. Large hotel chains that are used by teams to stay in Lahore, Karachi, Multan, and Rawalpindi where the matches take place. Contractors that provide transport services. Small printing presses also see an influx in orders.
Perhaps the most incredible realisation from
speaking to this host of big and small stakeholders was the confidence they had that the tournament would be a longterm avenue for their businesses. From shopkeepers to major sponsors, all of them spoke of the future and what they would do to continue cashing in on everything the tournament has to offer. In 2015, when the HBL PSL was first introduced, it was considered unlikely that the tournament would persist. Critics inside and outside of Pakistan felt that with no international cricket in Pakistan and the PCB in dire financial straits, there would be little chance of this tournament surviving.
Despite the naysayers, a group of early believers put their money where their mouth was and made the first edition of the HBL PSL possible. This issue covers their stories, their struggles, and what they hope to achieve from the future. It goes in depth to discuss how the HBL PSL has saved the PCB on many occasions by providing up to half of its revenue during some years. We have also discussed how the franchise owners and sponsors of the tournament have remained committed to it. All of this has been discussed at length in these stories. What we must take a moment to do, however, is appreciate the HBL PSL for the unlikely hero it has turned into for Pakistan. Over here, we use the term Pakistan and not Pakistan cricket because the tournament is something all Pakistanis can be proud of. It is a quality product that is financially viable and has persisted through six prime ministers, as many chairpersons of the PCB, and struggles like Covid-19. The consistency of putting on a show of international standard for 10 years during a tumultuous time for Pakistani economically and politically has been an exercise in nation building. It might be a small effort in the grander scheme of things, but the HBL is something right and good about Pakistan. It is worth clinging to, and most importantly, it is a miracle worth maintaining and emulating.
How the HBL PSL became Pakistan cricket’s financial lifeline
In the past five years, the tournament has consistently been the biggest contributor to the PCB’s revenue. This is where the money comes from, and where it should be going.
By Abdullah Niazi
When the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) was first announced in 2015, few would have bet on its survival, let alone its success. The odds were grim. Cricket in Pakistan was in exile. Since the harrowing 2009 terrorist attack on the visiting Sri Lankan team in Lahore, international sides had refused to set foot on Pakistani soil.
The Indian Premier League (IPL), already a global juggernaut, dominated the franchise cricket landscape. And within Pakistan itself, political instability meant that governments—and even cricket board chairmen—changed with dizzying frequency (there have been governments and five chairmen of the Pakistan Cricket Board in the ten years that the HBL PSL has been around).
Yet, against all expectations, the HBL PSL didn’t just survive— it flourished. It became a talent factory for Pakistan’s cricketing future, and, most remarkably, the catalyst for the return of international cricket to Pakistan. Perhaps most importantly, however, the league has been the board’s biggest revenue generator, often contributing up to half of its total income. It weathered political turbulence, security concerns, and the logistical nightmare of shifting from UAE-based exile to home soil. Throughout all this it has been the most reliable financial lifeline for the cricket board year in and year out.
What started as a reluctant export, with its inaugural season played entirely in the UAE, has since evolved into a cultural and commercial mainstay. And perhaps more than any politician or administrator, the PSL has played the most vital role in bringing international cricket back to Pakistan. In doing so, it has also become the heartbeat of the PCB’s finances, a rare story of institutional consistency and commercial imagination in an otherwise tumultuous landscape.
But in all this time, there have been a few unsung financiers to this success.
The HBL PSL didn’t just survive; it rehabilitated Pakistan’s cricketing reputation. It lured foreign players back, proved the country could host big matches safely, and laid the groundwork for the Asia Cup and Champions Trophy. But in the past 10 years, the benefits of this success have not reached the franchise owners. While the tournament is a financial success, team ownership has been a dicey proposition. With four out of six teams running losses (and a couple running big ones), the franchises are now feeling it is time for them to get their due for their initial belief.
And the timing might just be perfect. From 2017 onwards, the HBL PSL was the largest revenue generator for the cricket board every single year. Even in years where the board made losses, the HBL PSL kept them solvent and provided as much as 50% of their revenue. But a shift is now underway. Last year marked the first time since 2017 when no longer the PCB’s top earner. The return of international cricket—thanks in large part to the HBL PSL’s success—has dethroned the league. Last year, hosting the Asia Cup and other bilateral series brought in Rs 5.5 billion, eclipsing the PSL’s Rs 3.55 billion. While the financials for 2025 are not in yet, it is nearly certain that the revenue from the HBL PSL will be eclipsed again because of the hosting fees from the ICC Champion’s Trophy.
Of course, this newfound international revenue exists because the HBL PSL made Pakistan credible again. But credibility alone doesn’t pay the bills for franchise owners. If the PCB continues to treat the PSL as a cash cow while teams struggle, it risks alienating the very investors who made the league possible. The board must recognize that the PSL’s next phase shouldn’t be about extraction—it should be about partnership. Which is why it is important to understand exactly how the HBL PSL came to be
this profitable for the board, and this much of a gamble for the franchise owners.
The PCB is an autonomous government entity, yes, but it is meant to operate like a corporation. It hires players, coaches, and staff. It pays the bills, organizes tours, manages stadiums, and most importantly, generates revenue to promote cricket across the nation. In an ideal world, it should make a profit. That profit, in turn, should be plowed back into nurturing grassroots talent and improving infrastructure.
But for decades, the PCB limped from one crisis to another. Terrorism drove international teams away. Mismanagement plagued domestic cricket. The board relied heavily on payments from the International Cricket Council (ICC), including a record high of $17 million (Rs 4.24 billion) in 2023. But the real game-changer was the HBL PSL.
The business of cricket
There are a few basics you should understand for this story. Firstly, the Pakistan Cricket Board is an autonomous government entity with its own constitutions. What most people do not understand is it is supposed to be run like a corporation. The cricket board handles money coming in from cricket played in Pakistan, it hires players, coaches, staff, stadiums etc and pays the bills. At the end of the day, they are ideally supposed to make a profit which they can then pump back into promoting cricket in Pakistan.
The HBL PSL has been the reason this has been possible in Pakistan over the past ten years. The board has a few sources of income. They receive an annual payment from the International Cricket Council, which is Pakistan’s share of revenue from international tournaments such as the world cup etc, and which was a record high $17 million last year, shown as Rs 4.24 billion on the PCB’s books. For 2023, this was the singest largest source of money that the board got. The second biggest source of revenue was the HBL PSL. It is the single most lucrative event that the PCB organises, and in 2023, the tournament brought in Rs 3.55 billion in revenue for the PCB, and after expenditures, the board made Rs 1.56 billion from the tournament.
The HBL PSL has been lucrative for the PCB nearly from the very beginning. The six franchises participating in the tournament agreed to a 10-year contract to lease rights to the franchise for different amounts. They pay this fee in yearly installments. The highest yearly fee is $6.35 million by Multan, and the lowest is $1.1 million for the Quetta Gladiators. The PCB uses this money to organise the tournament, provides grounds, accommodation, supplies, and bears other costs such as broad-
casting. Meanwhile the teams are responsible for paying their own players and staff. The tournament itself makes money through broadcasting, gate receipts, sponsorships, and more. Now the revenue from these sources is all put into a central pool which is then divided between the teams and the board. Each team gets around 15% of this central revenue pool and the board gets 5%, but they also get the entirety of the franchise fees.
How the HBL PSL saved
Pakistan cricket
This scheme has worked well for the PCB. Just take a look at what the HBL PSL has meant for them financially over the past few years. In 2018, the cricket board made a loss of Rs 53 lakhs. Out of a total revenue of Rs 5.13 billion, the board received Rs 2.2 billion from the franchise tournament, meaning it was responsible for 43% of the board’s revenue that year. Now, the tournament itself saw Rs 1.3 billion come in that year from broadcasting, sponsorships, and other revenue streams into the central revenue pool. Of this, the PCB took a hefty cut of Rs 56 crores, leaving the teams to split Rs 74 crores six-ways. The remainder of their revenue came from the Rs 1.55 billion in franchise fees that the six teams paid.
This means that in 2018, the HBL PSL had a total revenue of Rs 1.3 billion, the costs associated with it were Rs 1.6 billion, meaning it made a loss of around Rs 30 crores. Despite this, the PCB made money off of it due to the franchise fees. The franchises were not particularly happy about this.
The franchise owners were naturally not very happy with this. A colourful assortment of characters including media tycoon Salman Iqbal, Haier and MG owner Javed Afridi to just name two of the more public figures to own teams, the resistance was almost immediate. But that did not stop the PCB from continuing to milk the tournament as much as it could.
In fact, in 2019 the PCB made a profit after some years. The PCB saw revenues of Rs 11.3 billion, and a before tax profit of Rs 5.34 billion. The year also saw the HBL PSL grow, posting a total revenue of Rs 3.31 billion for the PCB. The tournament’s central revenue pool also improved, swelling to Rs 2.78 billion of which the board took a cut of just over Rs 1 billion. This left the franchises with just under Rs 30 crores each, while they had paid the PCB a cumulative Rs 2.12 billion in franchise fees.
In 2020, the PCB collected revenue worth Rs 9.34 billion and posted a before tax profit of Rs 4.31 billion. The HBL PSL was once again the largest contributor to this overall revenue with the PCB collecting Rs 3.62 from
2023
the tournament, making it responsible for 38% of the overall revenue.
The HBL PSL continued to be a very profitable business for the PCB. The board made Rs 3.63 billion from the tournament in revenues, including Rs 2.43 in franchise payments and around Rs 1.1 billion in central revenue share, basically the same as last year. The franchise fee increased from last year slightly because of the devaluation of the rupee. Overall, the central revenue pool actually decreased from Rs 2.78 billion to Rs 2.57 billion because of fewer sponsorship payments thanks to the tournament being cut short because of Covid-19. This meant further trouble for the teams, which were paying higher fees and a smaller share in the central revenue pool.
Since 2018, the PCB had been using revenues from the HBL PSL to slowly shore up the cash reserves they had in the bank. In 2018, the board had a general fund bank balance of close to Rs 9 billion. By 2019 these rose to Rs 13 billion, and by 2020 they had gone to Rs 17 billion. At the end of 2023, this figure stood at over Rs 20 billion.
Thanks to this, the PCB was able to get through the difficult year that was 2021. The board had total revenues of Rs 7.9 billion and posted a loss of Rs 75.6 crores, and these too were only there because the board decided to give some temporary relief to the beleaguered franchise owners of the HBL PSL.
Another major perk was the tournament being in Pakistan. Not only was this bringing international cricket back to Pakistan, the expenditure on the tournament was falling since the UAE did not need to be paid anymore.
Changing times
There was a problem in all this. Back in 2015 when the teams had first been auctioned, the PCB had set fees for the next 10 years and they would take
these fees in dollars from the five franchises. Overall, it was a payment of $8.3 million a year with the priciest team, Karachi, paying $2.6 million and the cheapest, Quetta, paying $1.1 million. The problem was the dollar was getting out of control. The teams had agreed to the deal at a time in 2015 when the dollar was at Rs 105, and by 2021 it had risen to close to Rs 175. Since all of the owners were Pakistanis and their businesses were in Pakistan, they went from paying a collective Rs 88 crore a year to paying a collective Rs 1.4 billion by 2021. On top of this, in 2017, the PCB also introduced a new team, Multan Sultans, to the tournament worth $6.35 million a year.
The addition of a sixth team also meant the central revenue pool would be divided seven ways now instead of six, with the PCB still taking the single biggest share at over 20% every year. The PCB was now making more off franchise fees while the franchises were making less and less. They were suffering massive losses, particularly since the central revenue share didn’t even cover fees let alone the costs of players, staff, marketing, equipment, and whatnot. Upset by this, the teams simply stopped paying their dues on time causing some cash flow issues for the PCB. Eventually, the board had to go back to the negotiating table and it was decided the PCB would reduce its share in the central revenue pool to 5%, which placated the teams for the time being. It was also decided that the franchise fee would be fixed and the dollar rate for the teams would be set at the existent Rs 175, which in hindsight was a very good negotiation win for the franchises.
The effort was led in particular by Multan, Karachi, and Lahore, the three teams with the highest franchise fees. At this point, with a central revenue pool share of over Rs 1 billion to each team, smaller teams like Peshawar and Quetta with franchise fees around $1.1-1.2 million were very happy.
This brings us to more recent times. What you have seen above is a dive into how the HBL PSL very quickly became the biggest revenue source for the PCB and helped it become one of the richer cricket boards in the world outside of the Big Three consisting of Australia, England, and India.
Eventually, however, the franchises grew tired of bankrolling the PCB and wanted more of a chance to earn money from the tournament in which their teams had just been bleeding it up until now. The negotiation of 2021 meant the PCB could say goodbye to the steadily increasing flow of money from the HBL PSL they had gotten used to. Revenues from the tournament grew at a rate of 19.98% over three years. But with the dollar pegged and the central revenue pool share cut down, the board could expect less money or at best around the same.
PCB’s earnings from HBL PSL Central Revenue Pool
2018 — Rs 56 crores 2019 —Rs 1 billion
revenue. For context, this is not even close to the highest share in revenue the HBL PSL has had in any single year which we saw was 48%, but it is still big. So why the sudden increase?
The debt that is owed
This is not the first time Profit has done a story on the PCB or the HBL PSL. It is also not our first long-term analysis of the board’s financials. The reason we have looked at just the board’s financials (and chosen to look at the HBL PSL’s current financial position alone in a different story) is because the PCB has been the biggest winner from this tournament. They have made money and been able to bring cricket back to Pakistan.
In 2022, the PCB saw revenues of Rs 9.03 billion. The increase from last year can be attributed to the revival of international cricket and payments for Pakistan’s participation in major tournaments. The HBL PSL still had a pretty big portion in the overall revenue. In fact, it had the largest portion at 38% of the total revenue at Rs 3.34 billion. This was, however, the first time that revenue from the HBL PSL fell for the PCB. This did not even happen in 2021 when they paid a big chunk of their central revenue pool share to the franchises.
The tournament actually did very well in 2022. The total central revenue pool ballooned to a massive Rs 5.4 billion, but this year the PCB got to keep a 10% cut that came out to Rs 57 crore under the new 90-10 split that they had in place. This more than halved their central pool revenue which was Rs 1.2 billion in 2021, but meant the franchises were making more money. They were still getting their regular Rs 2.67 billion in franchise fees.
The real rewards
International cricket has a lot to offer financially. The biggest factor has been the return of cricket to Pakistan and the money coming in from the ICC as a result. In 2023, the PCB saw the largest amount of revenue it has ever seen at Rs 12.45 billion, and posted a profit of nearly Rs 4 billion at the end of the year. This is the second largest profit the board has ever made for a financial year. Of this total revenue, the HBL PSL contributed the expected Rs 3.55 billion.
The share in revenue has fallen because the board has seen a significant uptick in income coming in from international tours to Pakistan. In fact, the biggest contributor to the PCB’s revenues in 2023 was not the HBL PSL, but international payments made to Pakistan by the ICC and ACC. These amounted to Rs 5.43 billion, making up nearly 33% of the total
The reality is that now is the time for the board to pay back a debt they owe to franchise owners. The HBL PSL’s success was never guaranteed. It was born in exile, nurtured amid political chaos, and sustained by franchise owners who often lost money year after year. Their investment wasn’t just financial—it was a bet on Pakistan itself.
That bet paid off. The HBL PSL didn’t just survive; it rehabilitated Pakistan’s cricketing reputation. It lured foreign players back, proved the country could host big matches safely, and laid the groundwork for the Asia Cup and Champions Trophy. The PCB’s newfound international revenue? It exists because the PSL made Pakistan credible again.
But credibility alone doesn’t pay the bills for franchise owners. If the PCB continues to treat the HBL PSL as a cash cow while teams struggle, it risks alienating the very investors who made the league possible. The board must recognize that the HBL PSL’s next phase shouldn’t be about extraction—it should be about partnership.
The PCB now stands at a crossroads. With international cricket’s revival, it has a rare opportunity: to share the wealth with franchises that have shouldered losses for nearly a decade. A more equitable revenue model— whether through higher central payouts, better commercial rights, or a revised profit-sharing structure—wouldn’t just be fair; it would ensure the HBL PSL’s long-term health.
But if the board resists, the consequences could be severe. Franchise owners aren’t charities. If the financial burden remains one-sided, some may walk away—and the HBL PSL’s stability could unravel.
The choice is clear. The PCB can either acknowledge the PSL’s role in its revival and reward those who made it happen—or it can take their loyalty for granted and risk the league’s future.
After years of defying the odds, the HBL PSL deserves more than just survival. It deserves a deal as strong as the foundation it built. n
The miracle called the HBL PSL
In 2015, people doubted whether the tournament would even happen. Now, it is a certainty for years to come. Is it time for the early investors that believed in it when no one did to take control?
By Abdullah Niazi
The HBL PSL was supposed to start on the 11th of May this year. The tournament normally takes place in the March-April window; it was pushed forward this year to accommodate the ICC Champion’s Trophy being hosted in Pakistan.
But well before the first ball was bowled, or the first tickets were sold, or the floodlights turned on, the franchises were locking horns. It started with Ali Tareen. The owner of the Multan Sultans and the newest member of the owners club decided it was about time some honest truths were spoken.
In the leadup to the tournament, Tareen did the media circuit rounds and did not mince his words — the HBL PSL was no longer competitive within the international franchise tournaments as it had once been. “I am not against the PCB or the HBL PSL. What I am against is mediocrity. PSL needs to take criticism positively and work with franchises to evolve and grow the brand, not pretend everything’s perfect. Growth requires intent. And that’s what I feel is lacking. Stagnation is the enemy,” he said. Stagnation. Mediocrity.
Those were the two words that set off a chain reaction. Almost immediately, Salman Iqbal jumped to the defence of the league. “Since the start of the HBL PSL, many doubted us. Critics from India and even some local tv channels. But what truly hurts is when one of our own, a team owner, chooses to publicly ridicule and disrespect this league despite its continuous growth. The HBL PSL is more
than cricket. It is a Made-in-Pakistan success story. Every stakeholder, including Ali Tareen, benefits from its growth. So let’s protect what we’ve built.”
Others were quick to jump on. Since then, other team owners have made public comments on the issue. Nadeem Omar of the Quetta Gladiators also complained that the HBL PSL was suffering from a lack of hype. “That the tournament needed a dedicated team to promote the tournament, and that the board has started losing interest in the tournament. We need more hype and this is a cash cow for the board, and we pay the money for it. We have lost our edge in recent years but we need to get it back.” Atif Rana of the Lahore Qalandars went back to his older complaints: on how the league needs a revamp of its revenue sharing model. It was the most public expression of discontent in the HBL PSL that has happened yet between the team owners. While it might not seem so, this is probably the biggest sign that the HBL PSL has been a success beyond what anyone could have expected.
Think about it. This year the HBL PSL was moved from its regular window because Pakistan was hosting the ICC Champion’s Trophy. But could Pakistan have hosted an international tournament without the clout that came from a decade of the HBL PSL? Unlikely. The fact that the team owners are actively debating the future of the tournament and being critical of it shows that they are confident it will survive despite their criticism, or perhaps even thrive because of it.
The tournament is an entrenched part of the cricketing calendar at this point. Over the past ten years, it has been
As title sponsors, we didn’t just write cheques. We bet on Pakistan’s potential when others hesitated. Now, every time a foreign player praises HBLPSL’s energy or a fan wears a team jersey abroad, it validates that bet. HBL’s name is woven into that story—not as a passive sponsor, but as a catalyst. That’s the ROI you can’t quantify on a balance sheet
Ali Habib, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at HBL
a cash cow for the PCB. Its success has been determined by consistent investment from its sponsors and franchise owners. But next year, the tournament will be up for a major restructuring. The franchise fees are up for renegotiation as well as the title sponsorship. Broadcast rights will also be up for grabs again. It will be a moment where the PCB will be looking to make more while the teams will be looking for something bigger — ownership in perpetuity. On top of this, there are reports of the PCB approaching foreign investors, particularly from Saudi Arabia, to put their money into Pakistan cricket either by buying teams. The question is, with some much up for grabs, what will the HBL PSL look like next year? And could we see a tournament different from the one we have known and loved these past 10 years?
Unlikely beginnings
When the HBL PSL started in 2015, there was little understanding of how the tournament would work. “Back then we were negotiating and Sethi Sb {the then chairman} simply said let’s sign this we will figure it out later. We also felt it was important to get this going and that is why we made a push to just go for it,” says Atif Rana, owner of the Lahore Qalandars, one of the biggest franchises in the league.
It was a decision taken to get something going that was not expected to work. “Forget the future, the bigger thing is how unlikely this was that Pakistan got the HBL PSL up and running. The efforts started at least 2008 when the IPL
I
am not against the PCB or the HBL PSL. What I am against is mediocrity. PSL needs to take criticism positively and work with franchises to evolve and grow the brand, not pretend everything’s perfect. Growth requires intent. And that’s what I feel is lacking. Stagnation is the enemy
Ali Tareen, owner Multan Sultans
first started, then suddenly it picked up pace and actually got done,” explains cricket writer Osman Sammiuddin.
According to him, the biggest thing was getting the tournament off the ground. “It is ludicrous to think now, but at the time the HBL PSL had to compete with the Masters League for attention and grounds because it also took place in the UAE. But my theory was always that as long as we have different stakeholders in Pakistan Cricket {the team owners} and this thing got going, it would work for a while.”
This was the idea in everyone’s mind then. Even though it was a risk, everyone wanted to get the tournament started and see what happened. It was a bet that took believing in Pakistan.
“Our outlook towards Pakistan is one of long-term orientation. If we were to draw a tangent line through the ups and downs of the curve of Pakistan’s history, we only see that line going forward and up. When HBL approached HBLPSL 10 years ago, we knew we were going to provide support with a longterm approach; this will succeed, and we will ensure it succeeds because it must,” says Ali Habib, the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of HBL. Pakistan’s oldest bank has been the title sponsor of the tournament
since the beginning, and it has maintained this approach the whole time.
“We’re not here today, gone tomorrow. We’re HBL—you’ve known about us since you were a kid. When people said HBLPSL might not succeed, our institutional view was: why wouldn’t it? We have talent, an established cricket board. All it needed was someone to say, ‘I’m with you—don’t worry, get on with it.’ The rest is history.”
“Now, come February or March, the question isn’t whether HBLPSL will happen in 2026; it’s ‘What’s the launch date?’ It’s now part of Pakistan’s cultural framework. This consistency—10 years at a stretch—is underappreciated. It’s one of Pakistan’s biggest successes in the last 10 years. It molded the thinking of stakeholders and the public. They look forward to it.”
Speaking about those initial days, former Chairman of the PCB Najam Sethi said it was a question of just jumping into the tournament. “Previous regimes had the wrong perspective. They thought that for HBL PSL to be successful, foreign players had to play before domestic audiences in local stadiums. But that wasn’t possible because foreign players were not ready to come to Pakistan. But i reasoned that tv and digital eyeballs mattered not full house in local
stadiums. Global Broadcast rights brought in money not gate receipts. So I launched HBL PSL in Dubai and it was a huge financial success, paving the way for it to be gradually branded as a Pakistani product which brought international cricket back to Pakistan,” says Najam Sethi, former chairman of the PCB.
The results have vindicated the tournament. Over time, the value has increased many fold. Take for example the Multan Sultans. In 2015 when the franchise rights were originally sold, the most expensive team was Karachi at a price of $2.6 million per year. In 2017, when the Multan Sultans franchise was introduced, it was sold for $6.35 million. Within a few years, the value of a franchise of the HBL PSL had almost tripled.
How big is the HBL PSL now?
Just how big is the tournament at this point? Profit has access to some of the details for the tournament’s financial position. The HBL PSL is an independent entity that is not exactly owned by the PCB. It is an amalgamation of moving parts (franchises, sponsorship, players) that is owned by different stakeholders together. The tournament itself makes money from gate receipts, broadcasting rights, and sponsorship. This revenue is distributed between the franchises and the board in a set revenue sharing model.
The latest data shows how big some of this is worth. For example, the international media broadcast rights for the HBL PSL is worth Rs 63.2 crore. The rights for broadcasting in Pakistan, meanwhile, were worth Rs 3.15 billion. The live streaming rights for Pakistan were worth Rs 93.17 crore, while the production enhancement rights were worth nearly Rs 20 crores. This gives media rights worth almost Rs 5 billion alone. The cost of this production was around Rs 1.3 billion, and the final profit from just broadcasting was Rs 3.6 billion. Similarly, the title sponsorship for the tournament, which is paid for by HBL, was worth $ 22.5 million until the year 2025, which
Since the start of the HBL PSL, many doubted us. Critics from India and even some local tv channels. But what truly hurts is when one of our own, a team owner, chooses to publicly ridicule and disrespect this league despite its continuous growth
Salman Iqbal, owner Karachi Kings
will be up for renegotiations next year. Overall, for just one year, there were also seven ‘category’ sponsors for the tournament that contributed close to Rs 1.14 billion to the tournament. Sponsorship on the shirts of the umpires was worth Rs 18 crores and venue activation rights were just over Rs 11 crores. The rights for sponsorship to the strategic timeout (a break of a few minutes in the game) was Rs 6.3 crores. Truck branding was Rs 5.4 crores, and virtual branding rights were Rs 7.2 crores. The branding partnership for the HBL PSL was over Rs 16 crores, and gate receipts (ticket sales) actually contributed an impressive Rs 47.5 crores.
Overall, the revenue from this (gate receipts and sponsorship) for the year rounded out to about Rs 3.1 billion. On top of this, the tournament has become an entrenched brand that is not going anywhere.
“The HBL PSL is more than cricket. It’s an important component of Brand Pakistan. Brand. It signals Pakistan is open for business. In 2016, the tournament was held in Dubai because no one would come here. Now, we just hosted the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan. If we had been watching the first match of the HBLPSL in Dubai in 2016 and I told you we would be hosting in 2025 the ICC Champion’s Trophy in Pakistan with all cricket-playing countries participating, you would have given
me a funny look. But that is what HBLPSL has achieved; it has been a catalyst of bringing back international cricket/investment back to Pakistan. That is nation-building,” says Ali Habib.
Splitting the pie
The revenue sharing model of the HBL PSL is a topic this publication has addressed at length before. Without getting into too many details, let us sum up how this works. All of the revenue we have mentioned above is put into what is called the Central Revenue Pool. This is the entire earning of the HBL PSL. According to the initial agreement, this revenue pool was split between the franchises and the PCB. Under this, the PCB would get 20% of the pool and the rest of the 80% would be split between the franchises. This was a bit of a problem. Take the example of the first ever HBL PSL. When the central revenue pool was calculated, it turned out that the PSL had turned a profit of $2.6 million. Out of this, the PCB pocketed $0.6 million while the rest of the $2 million were divided equally among the five sides – leaving each side with a mere $0.4 million. The sides all ended up making a significant loss in the first year. And how could they expect not to?
In the first edition of the PSL only, the Karachi Kings for example had paid $2.6 million as
their franchise fee. This was the same amount as the entirety of the PSL made. Not only did the Karachi Kings only recover $0.6 million of their initial investment for the first year, they also had to spend more on top of that.
Without getting into all of the details, over time the franchises renegotiated this and got to a point where the central revenue pool is now split 95% between the teams equally (although one other team has been added since so it is split six ways instead of five) and they also make money through individual sponsorships.
Over the years, the tournament has clearly become a cash cow, especially for the board, and as such it is here to stay. “The HBL PSL is not just owned by the PCB. Since there are six different franchise owners, it has created an ecosystem that makes money. Even though the PCB tries to cannibalise it at some times, everybody realises this is something that brings the money in and that has been a prime reason it has run through. The worry for me now is the increasing politicisation of the board might filter through into the franchises and the league. That is the simple reason it has actually worked. And the fans clearly love it,” says Osman Samiuddin.
It has obviously been very beneficial to the cricket board. The HBL PSL has proven highly profitable for the PCB over the years. In 2018, despite the tournament itself making a Rs 30 crore loss (with Rs 1.3 billion in revenue and Rs 1.6 billion in costs), the PCB still earned Rs 2.2 billion from it—43% of its total Rs 5.13 billion revenue—due to Rs 1.55 billion in franchise fees and Rs 56 crores from the central revenue pool. The PCB made a loss of Rs 53 lakhs overall that year.
In 2019, PCB posted a Rs 5.34 billion profit on Rs 11.3 billion revenue. PSL revenues grew to Rs 3.31 billion, with Rs 2.78 billion in the central pool. PCB took over Rs 1 billion from this, while Rs 2.12 billion came from franchise fees.
In 2020, PCB earned Rs 3.62 billion from the PSL (38% of its Rs 9.34 billion total revenue), posting a Rs 4.31 billion profit. Of the PSL revenue, Rs 2.43 billion came from franchise payments and around Rs 1.1 billion from the central pool. Due to Covid-19, the central
pool dropped to Rs 2.57 billion from Rs 2.78 billion the previous year.
PCB’s general fund rose from Rs 9 billion in 2018 to Rs 13 billion in 2019, Rs 17 billion in 2020, and over Rs 20 billion by end of 2023. This helped PCB survive 2021, when it posted a Rs 75.6 crore loss on Rs 7.9 billion revenue after giving temporary relief to franchises.
Initially, franchise fees were set in dollars—$8.3 million/year across five teams from 2015—which became a problem as the rupee devalued (from Rs 105 to Rs 175/USD by 2021). Franchise payments rose from Rs 88 crore to Rs 1.4 billion/year. A sixth team, Multan, added $6.35 million annually. With the PCB taking over 20% of the central pool and franchise costs rising, teams suffered losses.
In 2021, after pushback, PCB reduced its share of the central pool to 5% and fixed the dollar rate at Rs 175. Teams like Multan, Karachi, and Lahore led this renegotiation. By then, smaller teams like Peshawar and Quetta were benefitting more due to lower franchise fees.
In 2022, PCB revenue was Rs 9.03 billion, with Rs 3.34 billion (38%) from the PSL—the first year PSL revenue dropped for the PCB. The central pool grew to Rs 5.4 billion, but under a new 90-10 split, PCB received only Rs 57 crore, down from Rs 1.2 billion in 2021. Franchise fees remained Rs 2.67 billion.
In 2023, PCB saw its highest revenue ever at Rs 12.45 billion and a profit of nearly Rs 4 billion. The PSL contributed Rs 3.55 billion. While its share of overall revenue declined due to rising international earnings (Rs 5.43 billion from ICC/ACC), PSL remained a major revenue driver.
What comes next?
So what happens now? Next year, the franchises will have their franchise fee up for renegotiation. Think of it this way. Over the past ten years, most of
the teams have struggled to make money off this tournament.
“From what I’ve gathered from speaking to them, I think most of them are making money, some of them consistently. There is probably only one franchise, Multan, that is not making money. Even among the most disgruntled franchise owners this is something they want to keep investing in. They need to be owners in perpetuity that will be a main area of conversation over this topic when the rebidding happens. I think the majority of them are keen to bring the financials next year. It seems it will be a minimum of 25% and there will be some bumps along the way. Intent wise most of them want to continue,” says Osman Samiuddin. This intent to continue goes beyond just the franchise as well. Sponsors have also felt the same way. Some (with retail oriented products like tea brands) tell us they see an increase in sales during HBL PSL season, but also see improved brand recognition. Other sponsors look beyond just the obvious. “Return on investment isn’t just about rupees. Thinking of
HBLPSL in terms of how many accounts were opened in our branches or how many credit cards were sold would be purely transactional; HBL is not transactional. For HBL—a brand well known even before HBLPSL—it’s about community engagement, contributing to Pakistan’s image, and providing youth a healthy pursuit,” says Ali Habib.
The research tells us that HBL now enjoys the strongest brand equity in Pakistan. HBLPSL has made sure that HBL stays current and relevant to Pakistanis, the largest segment of whom are below the age of 30; our youth. The Bank understands that this segment is tech-savvy and hence, it is employing unique ways to take HBLPSL to them via Social Media platforms. HBLPSL itself is now assuming an iconic status as a brand. “
“Our commitment to the HBLPSL’s success hasn’t changed over the last 10 years, but commercial terms must be evaluated on merit. What we paid in Year 1 versus now is a world of difference. We’ll go to the drawing board when the time comes, as we always do, but our belief in the product remains. If the HBLPSL expands to more teams and attracts more investment, it’ll prove our bet right; Pakistan is open for business - and HBLPSL is a cornerstone of that narrative”
This is what the current scenario comes down to. The HBL PSL over the past decade has been a miracle. It has allowed cricket to return to Pakistan, it has been profitable, and it has become a part of Pakistan’s cricketing culture — one we cannot imagine going away any time soon. Now that the franchise fee for the next decade are up for renegotiation, there is no doubt that this tournament will continue for another decade barring what would have to be seismic events.
The one thing that the team owners will want more than anything else is the rights to these teams in perpetuity. Currently, they are in a 10+10 model, whereby they had the rights
at a locked rate for the first 10 years and will now have the rights for another 10 years with a renegotiation of price. Sort of like a rental unit agreement. What the teams are looking for is a system in which they have perpetuity in ownership. Where they pay a yearly entrance fee instead of a franchise fee and they own the rights to the team.
Think about it. Any of the teams have spent the past 10 years marketing, promoting, and building a brand around their franchises. If they walk away from these franchises at any point, they should be able to sell the team while accounting for the money they have put into it. Otherwise it is like renovating a house you do not own and rent instead.
The new challengers
As the HBL PSL enters its second decade, expansion is not just a possibility — it is increasingly looking like an inevitability. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made no secret of its ambitions to bring in two new franchises to the tournament, which would take the total team count from six to eight. For the board, this is an attractive proposition. Each new team represents millions of dollars in additional franchise fees and the promise of a broader national footprint for the tournament. For the existing franchises, however, the news has been met with some apprehension.
At the heart of the matter lies the central revenue pool. As it stands, the revenue generated from broadcasting rights, sponsorships, and gate receipts is split — 95% going to the franchises, and 5% to the PCB. This 95% is divided equally among the six teams. Adding two new teams means dividing the same pie into more slices. Unless the total revenue of the tournament grows significantly — and fast — each franchise will end up receiving a smaller portion of the profits, even as their costs re-
main the same or grow. It’s not just a question of fairness, it’s one of financial viability.
And yet, the PCB sees opportunity. A larger league means more matches, more media rights to sell, and potentially, more sponsors. The league has already shown it can command impressive numbers: Rs 5 billion in media rights, Rs 3.1 billion from sponsorships and gate receipts, and over Rs 3.5 billion in total revenues for the PCB in 2023 alone. With the right kind of international backing, those numbers could rise even further — and the PCB knows exactly where to look.
Profit can confirm that the PCB has held discussions with Saudi Arabian energy giant Aramco. Talks are still in early stages, but the scope has reportedly been wide-ranging: from becoming a major sponsor of the HBL PSL, to potentially acquiring ownership of one of the new teams. If a deal materializes, it would represent the first major foray of a Gulf entity into franchise cricket in Pakistan, and possibly mark the beginning of a more global commercial outlook for the league.
For the PCB, bringing in sponsors like
Aramco would mean deeper pockets and more international credibility. For a league that was once launched in the UAE because Pakistan was too unstable to host international cricket, it would be a full-circle moment — one where foreign investment would now be vying to enter a thriving domestic product.
However, this might not be so easy. “The value of Pakistan Cricket has fallen dramatically in recent times. Domestic broadcast rights have fallen and the broadcasters outfoxed the PCB. If the broadcasters get together and collude effectively, it is a tough time finding a new sponsor, especially foreign ones. I am not sure how much money there is in the market” says Osman Samiuddin.
Then there is another factor. The sponsors and team owners that have been part of this tournament since the beginning have persisted because this is a product they believe in. “As title sponsors, we didn’t just write cheques. We bet on Pakistan’s potential when others hesitated. Now, every time a foreign player praises HBLPSL’s energy or a fan wears a team jersey abroad, it validates that bet. HBL’s name is woven into that story—not as a passive sponsor, but as a catalyst. That’s the ROI you can’t quantify on a balance sheet” says HBL’s Ali Habib.
For the franchises, the expansion and foreign involvement also raises the stakes. It sharpens the demand for perpetuity of ownership. If new teams are entering with potentially better deals or more backing, existing franchises want to ensure they’re not left behind after spending a decade building their brands, audiences, and infrastructure.
It’s a delicate balancing act. Growth versus sustainability. Investment versus dilution. The new challengers may help usher in a new era for the HBL PSL — one that is more global, more valuable, and more high-stakes than ever before. But whether that future is equitable for all stakeholders remains to be seen. n
Franchise sport is generally considered less an investment for team owners and more a passion project
Profit Report
Why would you buy a franchise of the HBL PSL? Back in 2015, when the teams first went up for sale, there was little financial incentive in buying a team. The tournament was being hosted entirely in Dubai, there was no guarantee that the PCB would have the patience (or stability) for a second season, and there were questions over whether the tournament would even be watched with the existence of the Indian Premier League right next door.
But the reality of franchise sports all over the world is that to the team owners, it isn’t always about the finances. Oftentimes it is a way to simply be close and involved in a game you love. Imagine you’re a billionaire and you’ve made your money doing something boring like selling socks or metal beams. You’ve spent your entire life becoming outrageously wealthy, but you still haven’t quite found the same happiness you did playing football with your friends as a kid. Even now, nothing quite gets you as passionate or entranced as a tight game in your favourite league. That is the moment you realise you can afford to not just be a viewer anymore. If you want to be involved, you can buy time and run it. Pick the coaches, hang out with the players, decide what works and what doesn’t — the full works.
And when you have the kind of money that can afford a passion project like a sports franchise, you aren’t always worried about the bottom line. It is a luxury you can afford. As Malcolm Gladwell writes on the motivation behind owning teams in the US’s National Basketball Association (NBA): “The issue isn’t how much money the business of basketball makes. The issue is that basketball isn’t a business in the first place — and for things that aren’t businesses how much money is, or isn’t, made is largely irrelevant….”
The situation was no different with the HBL PSL. The offer being made to them in 2015 was not particularly lucrative, and according to more than one of the team owners, they barely had time to negotiate a revenue sharing agreement. Why fall for the trap?
Well, maybe it isn’t a trap, but a toy. In a cricket crazy country like Pakistan, having a cricket team, which includes individuals who have worn the iconic Green blazer and others who have represented their own countries, is a vanity project like no other. A surprisingly large number of public figures (Nawaz Sharif,
Atif Aslam, Faiz Ahmed Faiz to name just a few) think they could have played cricket professionally had they wanted to. A large number of businessmen also indulge this schoolboy delusion in their minds.
So what is the next best thing? – Basking in the high of packed stadiums chanting out the name of the team they own. Just think about it. Of the six teams, at least three have very prominent owners that have made their own brand synonymous with the team’s brand. Fawad Rana, the original face of the Lahore Qalandars, became the iconically loveable face of the Lahore Qalandars. Now, Atif Rana plays a similar if less animated role for the team. Javed Afridi has found his fame through his ownership of the Peshawar Zalmi not his ownership of Haier or MG, while Salman Iqbal has ventured beyond just the team to also buy the broadcasting rights for the league with his A Sports channel – something that gives him a large amount of influence over the league. Similarly, the latest entrant in the league is Ali Tareen. While he had a short career as a politician and has been a public figure on account of his family, his main time in the spotlight comes from the Multan Sultans. Even the usually media shy Ali Naqvi became a more household name through the HBL PSL.
But who are these owners, and what line of work are they in outside of the HBL PSL? What is the source of the money that allowed them to invest in the HBL PSL, and how have they shaped these passion projects?
Karachi Kings
When the rights to the franchises were originally being sold by the PCB, the most expensive team was the Karachi Kings. Sold at $26 million for a period of 10 years, the Kings were the most expensive team for a reason. This was the team that would represent Pakistan’s largest and most populous city, and as such cost the most.
The man behind the Karachi Kings franchise was Salman Iqbal. The Pakistani media tycoon and entrepreneur, best known as the founder of ARY Digital Network, is the nephew of ARY Group founder Haji Abdul Razzak Yaqoob. Iqbal did his early schooling in Dubai and then went to the US to pursue a bachelors degree in Finance from the University of Houston. After taking charge of ARY Group’s
operations, he diversified it from the legacy gold business into new verticals, including media, real estate, and sports.
In 2000, Iqbal launched ARY Digital Network, now one of Pakistan’s largest media groups, with channels like ARY Digital, ARY News, A Sports, etc. Its YouTube channel has over 62.5 million subscribers and is one of the most popular streaming platforms in Pakistan. As per PACRA, ARY Communications Ltd. reported a revenue of Rs. 15.2 billion ($54.2 million) and a net income of Rs. 1.34 billion ($4.8 million) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024., where Salman holds 65% ownership.
He has also played a pivotal role in reinvigorating the Pakistani cinema by releasing over 35 films through ARY Films, Apart from that he also leads luxury real estate projects such as ARY Laguna, a beachfront housing project in Karachi, and has launched fintech ventures such as ARY Sahulat Wallet, which aims to promote financial inclusion in the country. While Iqbal was part of the ARY group and family, which originally gained its fame from their signature high-quality gold biscuits and eventually television channels, the HBL PSL was his most front-facing role. Since then, he has become a household name. As the team with the highest franchise fee, Karachi is one of the bigger teams that has struggled for profitability, but that has not stopped Iqbal from remaining committed to the course.
Lahore Qalandars
Fawad Naeem Rana is a Pakistani entrepreneur, philanthropist, and sports enthusiast, who was born in Lahore. He is famous for his ownership of the Lahore Qalandars cricket franchise in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and his leadership role as the Managing Director of Qatar Lubricants Company Limited (QALCO), a Doha-based energy company. When the HBL PSL was first launched, he shot to fame faster than any of the other team owners.
Loveable, dramatic, and highly animated, Mr Rana became known for his eccentric reactions and became the darling of the tournament’s fans. Despite his team’s poor form, he became a highlight in the tournament. From the beginning he was joined by his brothers, Atif and Sameen. Beyond the energy sector, Rana has shown a keen interest in the hospitality industry evident from establishments like the Shan-e-Lahore Restaurant in Qatar.
However, Fawad Rana chose to uninvolve himself in the franchise during the later seasons of the tournaments, and the team is now managed by co-owners Atif and Sameen as CEO and COO respectively.
Multan Sultans
The Multan Sultans first started off as an Uncle-Nephew power project from one of the richest and most politically influential families in Pakistan. To make this possible, it had to be the Tareen family of Lodhran. The Multan Sultans was not part of the initial five teams that were sold by the PCB in 2015. When it was introduced in 2017, the team rights were bought by the Schon Group but because the tournament had seen some serious success, the team right sold for over $6.2 million per year.
This was a price the Schon Group was not willing to pay. After a couple of seasons, they decided to back out and sell the franchise ahead. This is where Alamgir Khan Tareen, the younger brother of Jehangir Tareen, and his nephew Ali Tareen stepped in.
Professionally, Alamgir served as the Managing Director of Shamim & Company (Pvt) Ltd, the official bottler and franchisee of PepsiCo for South Punjab. During his tenure, the company became a significant player in the region’s beverage industry. Ali Tareen has also been involved in the family business, being particularly interest in agriculture, but cricket had always been a passion for both men — one they were ready to invest in . Tragically, Alamgir Tareen passed away in July 2023, and following his death the ownership of the Multan Sultans reverted to Ali Khan Tareen, who continues to manage the franchise till date.
While the Multan Sultans is the team with the highest franchise fee, it is backed by one of the biggest families in Pakistan. The JDW Sugar Mills, which is owned by Jehangir Tareen, generated a revenue of Rs. 130.6 billion ($465.4 million) and net profit of Rs. 13.7 billion ($48.9 million) in 2024. Ali Tareen owns 11,094,330 shares and 19.2% voting interest in the company. The Multan Sultans is not Tareen’s only cricket passion project, and he has spent significant time promoting grassroots cricket development in South Punjab.
Peshawar Zalmi
Walk into Javed Afridi’s office
and you will see the picture of him before you see anything else including him. It is a
larger than life image that hangs right behind his desk and is testament to the fact that Afridi is a man that recognises the importance of creating his own brand. From Bara in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His alma mater includes the University of Oxford, London School of Economics, Regent’s University London, and Edwardes College.
As the CEO of Haier Pakistan, Afridi has established his company as a leading home appliances brand in the country. During his tenure, Haier achieved a significant milestone by manufacturing 500,000 refrigerators in a single year, reflecting the company’s robust operational capabilities and market demand.
However, Afridi’s endeavors are not limited to home appliances but he has also made significant contributions to the automotive sector in the country. He is the one who introduced MG Motors to Pakistan through a partnership between his company, JW Group Pakistan and SAIC Motor Corporation Limited, a Chinese state-owned automotive company. This venture brought British automotive technology to the local market, where models like the MG HS and MG ZS EV have gained popularity.
Moreover, Afridi has also co-founded JoChaho, an e-commerce platform aimed at enhancing online retail experiences in Pakistan. This initiative reflects his vision to integrate technology with consumer needs, and further diversify his business portfolio .
Islamabad United
Ali Naqvi and Amna Naqvi are the principal owners of Islamabad United, one of the most successful teams in the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL), through their company Leonine Global Sports, which itself is owned by Leonine Global Investments.
Generally media shy and probably the most seasoned and elegant business professional in the group, he made probably one of the smartest deals in that initial 2015 period. His team has a big brand presence because it is the federal capital, and has since grown this reputation by being the most successful team in the tournament. On top of this, because Islamabad is a small city, the team has one of the lowest franchise fees (just over a million dollars) to pay every year. This has made this franchise that rare creature in the HBL PSL that is also profitable.
Ali Naqvi currently serves as the CEO of Aletheia Capital, a global financial advisory and investment firm, specializing in Asia. He has spent over 25 years at the forefront of capital markets in Asia, where he served as Executive Chairman of Global Markets, Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse until June 2018. He managed more than $60 billion in assets along with over $1 trillion in capital transactions.
Over the years, he introduced multiple innovations in research, client analytics, and business integration, including the “R vs R-2” financial management formula and the integrated equities model that became an industry standard for operational efficiency.
Amna Naqvi, co-leads Leonine Global Investments and serves as a powerful advocate for the arts. The duo maintain the largest private collection of Pakistani art in the world and support artists through the AAN Foundation. Amna has written extensively on art and has been instrumental in promoting South Asian cultural heritage globally. The couple’s broader business interests span media, technology, and sports, driven by a shared philosophy of nation-building through capital markets, cricket, and culture.
Quetta Gladiators
Nadeem Omar is a prominent Pakistani businessman and sports patron with deep roots in both commerce and cricket. As the Managing Director of the Omar Associates Group, a diversified conglomerate based in Karachi, he has played a significant role in Pakistan’s business and sporting spheres.
Omar Associates is primarily known for its activities in trading and export—especially in rice, coal, and general commodities. The company has grown over decades to establish a strong foothold in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Apart from trading, the group is also active in construction, real estate, and freight forwarding.
Furthermore, Nadeem Omar is actively involved in social and philanthropic causes. He has supported education and youth development initiatives through private efforts and partnerships. His role in sports development is widely respected for being grounded in sincerity rather than being commercially motivated. It could be said that through Quetta Gladiators, Omar Associates, and grassroots sports support, Nadeem Omar has created a lasting impact by blending business with purpose. n
When the HBL PSL comes to town
Profit report
The first thing that greets you in the small cluster of sports shops, just a short walk from the Saddar metro stop, is the smell of rubber and old leather.
Then comes the sound—bats clinking against one another as they are taken off the racks, the flutter of jerseys being unfolded, the low hum of a pedestal fan that never seems to cool the shop down, no matter how fast it spins.
Inside Al-Hamza Sports, cramped between a tire shop and a kebab corner, 52-yearold Iqbal Anwar is already halfway through his morning, though it’s only 10:30 a.m. He is holding out two different rolls of electrical tape for a teenage boy in a school uniform who is insisting on the “sticky kind”—the one that doesn’t peel after three overs. He also wants it to be pink.
“Two rolls for eighty,” Javed says, distracted. “You want that big bat too?”
The boy nods, eyes on the slab of wood leaning in the corner. He had come in to buy just the tape and a couple tennis balls, but he had been sneaking looks at the bat the entire time he was in the shop. Iqbal picked up on it. The bat is a monstrosity. It is a light weight, curved thing meant to hit straight sixes against a tape ball, not the English Willow players use out in the middle. But when you’re playing in the streets and things get heated, you might as well be out there in the middle of the pitch.
On the side, Iqbal’s son, Bilal, is scribbling prices on a tiny receipt pad nearby, barely keeping up.
It is May, and the HBL Pakistan Super League is back. For Iqbal, this is the month when the numbers shift. Sales that hover around Rs 3,000 to 5,000 per day in the winter swell to Rs 15,000, sometimes even Rs 20,000, especially if Lahore Qalandars or Islamabad United is playing a night match.
“People catch the fever,” he says, folding a stack of polyester Qalandars jerseys, the shade of red just a few tones off from the original. They are obviously rip-offs, not the official merchandise, but they make good money. “And fever is good for business.”
A few blocks away, on a quieter lane in Satellite Town, 38-year-old Usama Imran stands outside his family-run print shop, nervously watching a bundle of placards dry in the sun. His brother, who runs the offset press inside, hasn’t slept properly in three days. They’ve had non-stop orders: “Babar King,”
“Go Gladiators,” “Multan Sultans”—each one a splash of ink on thick card, Rs 40 a piece if printed in bulk.
“This is the only time of the year we do colour this cheap,” she says with a laugh. “Otherwise it’s wedding cards and exam notices.”
She estimates they’ll make Rs 150,000 this month if the orders keep coming. That’s nearly twice their monthly average of the off season. The only other time they make this much money is during shadi season.
In Lahore’s G1 Market in Johar Town, things are even more manic. On the edge of the roundabout, with a view of the Qaddafi Stadium’s arched floodlights in the distance, Saleem Bhatti is negotiating with a vendor over a new stack of hats. “No, bhai, not the green ones— those don’t sell.” According to him, fans have become discerning and picky over the past 10 years. If the shade does not match the colour of the team’s hats, they don’t want them. He waves the man off and turns his attention to two university girls eyeing the racks of shirts stitched with player names.
“Rs 850 for the shirt, Rs 200 for a name on the back,” he tells them. “Fakhar Zaman? Shaheen?”
They whisper among themselves before settling on Haris Rauf. Saleem takes the shirt and ducks into a tiny room behind the shop where his cousin operates a heat press. The logo is peeled and applied in under five minutes. The girls leave smiling.
Saleem has been here since the first PSL season. The jerseys have changed, the slogans have become more ridiculous (“Karachi Konings,” one misspelled batch read last year), but the crowds are loyal. On match days, he stays open late.
“During the HBL PSL, you stop thinking in terms of days. You think in matches,” he says, chewing on the back of his pen that he is using to tabulate his earnings for the day. “If it’s a double-header, that’s a double sale.”
Down Ferozepur Road, past the flyover, a modest hotel called Al-Madina Residence is fully booked for the week. Three of the rooms are taken by a camera crew from Karachi. Another two by a group of cousins from Faisalabad who’ve driven in for two matches. The manager, a thin man named Younis, says they added portable fans and fixed the bathroom door handles just for this week. Room rates are Rs 4,000 per night now—double the usual.
“We even started giving out breakfast,” he says, with a note of pride. “Halwa puri and chai. I send the boy out to go get it in for them in the morning and sell it at a slight premium. They like that.”
Outside the stadium, hawkers are busy. They come in with whistles, face paint, and flags. A boy no older than ten carries a plastic basket on his head filled with green wristbands and plastic vuvuzelas. He sells each for Rs 100. He tells you, quite confidently, he will make “at least 2,000 rupees today.” He grins, missing a front tooth.
Back at Al-Hamza Sports, Iqbal is now negotiating with a young man in his twenties, who’s asking about “hard ball” gloves. They range from Rs 600 to Rs 2,200, depending on whether you want the imported padding or the local stuff. The man settles for a pair in the middle. He’s organizing a tape-ball tournament in his neighborhood and thinks he will perform better with the gloves on. The winner gets Rs 5,000 and a trophy.
“I’ll need ten tennis balls too,” he adds. “The CA ones.” For this young man, tapeball tournaments can be more than just the Rs 5,000. After all, players like Haris Rauf were also discovered from the tapeball circuit, and for young men and women like him, the HBL PSL is a beacon of hope that they too might have a chance to play for Pakistan one day.
Iqbal doesn’t ask questions. He pulls out a carton from under the counter and counts them out. Business like this—the tournaments, the spontaneous matches in mohallas, the desire to play rather than just watch—is what truly makes this season different.
“After the final, it slows,” Iqabal says. “People watch less cricket, so they play less cricket. It also gets hotter so people play less. But now? Now it’s like everyone’s got an itch.”
That’s the thing about the HBL PSL. It’s not just a cricket tournament. It’s a season, like mangoes or monsoon, that settles over the country and leaves behind damp streets and ringing cash registers. It spills over into small businesses, whose owners can tell you exactly which team’s shirt sells best, which player’s name kids ask for the most, and what week to stock up on headbands.
At the end of the day, Iqbal locks up his shop just after the Isha prayer. The shutters clang down with a metallic sigh. He counts the day’s earnings—just over Rs 18,000. A good day.
As he steps out into the evening light, the buzz of the stadium playing on a distant TV reaches his ears. Someone hits a six, and a few boys in a nearby alley cheer. A car honks. Somewhere, another bat is being taped, another banner unfurled.
Iqbal smiles, tilts his head toward the sound, and walks home. The season is in full swing. n
Faysal Bank’s Bahraini parent calls off a long running courtship with GFH
Profit Report
Faysal Bank’s earnings have clocked in at Rs23.9 billion, up 18% compared to the previous year, even though fourth quarter earnings were a modest Rs3.5 billion, down sharply from the same period last year. A healthy return by most measures, though perhaps an even bigger development for the bank was the announcement that its parent company’s talks to divest several holdings – including its share in Faysal Bank – had fallen through.
Bahrain based Ithmaar Holding — which owns two thirds of Faysal Bank — quietly filed a regulatory notice in Manama announcing that it had mutually terminated the year long acquisition talks with fellow Bahraini outfit GFH Financial Group. The two sides said the “requirements for execution … have not been met,” drawing a line under fourteen months of due diligence and six separate progress disclosures.
Pakistan’s banking sector spent 2024 in a tug of war with a 22% benchmark policy rate, record rupee depreciation and sporadic import payment curbs. In that climate, Faysal Bank’s management emphasised a strategy of keeping their wallet light on longer tenor government paper and rotating into private sector assets. The bank’s Advances to Deposits Ratio (ADR) closed the year at 64.6%, well above Pakistan’s industry average, signalling that more of its balance sheet is deployed in the real economy than in risk free government bonds.Margins held firm because of an enviable deposit mix. Current and savings accounts (CASA) climbed to 85.5% of deposits from 75.1% a year earlier, allowing the bank to pay less for funding while repricing its asset book at higher KIBOR (Karachi Interbank Offered Rate) levels. Even though aggregate deposits dipped quarter on quarter — largely a function of the ADR momentarily falling below 50% — management appears to be remain focused on retail and current accounts to claw back share. Cost discipline was another highlight. Despite opening 133 new branches in 2024 and absorbing double digit inflation, the cost to income ratio was kept to 51%, only two points worse than 2023. Non performing financing improved too; the infection ratio edged down to 3.6% and credit costs were benign. Capital remains comfortable, with the capital adequacy ratio clocking in at 16.5%, well above the statutory floor, even after paying out Rs7 per share in dividends for the year.
Return on equity inevitably dipped — from 25% to 23.2% — thanks to a thicker equity base and some drag from higher statutory liquid-
ity requirements.
Faysal Bank’s present day outperformance is rooted in a three decade odyssey that began in the Gulf. The institution started life in 1987 as a Karachi branch of Faysal Islamic Bank of Bahrain, itself the brain child of the late Prince Mohammed Al Faisal Al Saud. On 3 October 1994 it was locally incorporated in Pakistan as Faysal Bank Ltd, and eight years later the investment banking arm, Al Faysal Investment Bank, was folded into the commercial bank, creating the platform recognised on the Pakistan Stock Exchange today. In those early years Faysal Bank was a conventional lender, but the group’s DNA always bent toward Sharia. The parentage traces further back to the Dar al Maal al Islami (DMI) Trust, the Geneva based Islamic finance conglomerate founded in 1981 by Prince Mohammed to globalise faith based banking. DMI’s investment in Pakistan found its final corporate wrapper in Ithmaar Bank BSC, which owned 100% of Faysal Bank by the mid 2000s.
Ithmaar’s own story is a mirror of the GCC’s stop start experiment with Islamic universal banking. The institution began life on 13 August 1984 as Faysal Investment Bank of Bahrain E.C. By 2003 it had absorbed Shamil Bank and adopted the name Ithmaar Bank, broadening its licence to full commercial banking.
But heavy real estate exposures during the global financial crisis forced a rethink. In March 2016 shareholders voted to break the balance sheet into a holding company with two subsidiaries, separating non core investment assets from the retail franchise. The restructuring was completed on 2 January 2017, giving birth to Ithmaar Holding BSC, regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain and listed in Manama and Kuwait. Ithmaar retained 66.8% of Faysal Bank, but began to hunt for ways to recycle capital. That quest led, in March 2024, to an MoU with GFH Financial Group under which GFH would acquire Ithmaar’s financing and investment portfolios. For twelve months due diligence dragged on; then on 14 April 2025 the parties walked away.
GFH Financial Group — best known to Pakistani readers for its ill fated majority ownership of Leeds United FC in 2012 14 — is itself a product of Bahrain’s early 2000s Islamic investment boom. Founded in 1999 as Gulf Finance House, it raised over $11 billion in investor funds during its first decade, financing trophy real estate projects such as Bahrain Financial Harbour and Energy City Qatar. A re brand in 2014 signalled a move from single deal syndication to diversified asset management, and today GFH is listed in Bahrain, Dubai and Kuwait.
For GFH, Ithmaar’s loan book offered a route to scale up recurring income and deploy excess liquidity. For Ithmaar, the proposed sale promised to de risk its balance sheet. Their inability to strike terms now returns both institutions to square one: Ithmaar must identify new buyers or capital market solutions; GFH continues to shop for yield after accumulating $33 billion in assets under management.
Back in Pakistan, the most transformational chapter in Faysal Bank’s history closed on 30 December 2022, when the State Bank granted a full Islamic banking licence after a four year, branch by branch conversion project. The effort turned 639 outlets, several million customers and Rs900 billion of assets Sharia compliant.
The conversion has paid off handsomely. Islamic deposits are less rate sensitive than conventional term deposits, cushioning margins; Sharia based trade services have opened fee income streams; and the brand now resonates with a market where Islamic banking has been growing faster than conventional banking.
Looking ahead, Faysal plans to push its branch network past 900 in 2025 and break 1,000 by 2026, a pace that will add at least 45 outlets this year alone.
Analysts expect industry loan growth to slow to single digits in 2025 as the policy rate grinds lower, reducing the incentive for corporates to front load borrowing. That trajectory should compress banks’ net interest margins from their 2024 peaks. But Faysal’s 85% CASA and predominantly variable rate financing book should protect earnings better than peers.
Whether Ithmaar sells down its stake— and to whom—remains the wild card. Any balance sheet repair at the parent level could eventually translate into a selldown of Pakistani exposure. Strip away the ownership intrigue and the 2024 numbers tell a straightforward story: a bank that has mastered low cost deposits, contained asset quality and kept costs honest in a tough macroeconomic year in Pakistan. The conversion to Islamic banking has insulated earnings; the branch build out is positioning FABL for the next credit cycle; and management’s discipline on capital puts it ahead of impending regulatory tweaks.
That does not make Faysal invulnerable. A quicker than expected fall in interest rates would test margin resilience; any political instability that throttles private sector credit would thin the ADR; and the exit strategy of its Bahraini parent could introduce an overhang. Yet, for now, shareholders—both in Karachi and Manama—have reason to celebrate this bright spot in Pakistan’s banking landscape. n
Pakistan’s tech service exports rise for 18th straight month
By Profit
When the State Bank of Pakistan published March’s balance of payments tables this week, a single line item stood out. Receipts from “computer services” — the official label for software development, business process outsourcing (BPO) and other tech enabled exports — hit $342 million, a monthly record and a 12% jump on both February 2025 and March 2024. It was the 18th consecutive month in which Pakistan’s technology exports grew year on year, according to the brokerage Topline Securities, which crunched the data in a note to clients on 17 April.
The hot streak comes at a paradoxical moment. All through 2024, global consulting houses warned that the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools would erode demand for low cost human coders and call centre agents. Deloitte’s TMT 2025 report, for instance, predicts “a pivotal gap year” in which generative AI begins to displace rote software and customer service tasks in traditional outsourcing hubs. And yet Pakistan, whose pitch to international clients is still built on abundant, affordable talent, is not just surviving the AI transition — it is growing faster than ever.
Topline’s tally shows March’s figure sits 10% above the trailing 12 month average of $311 million. Cumulatively, IT and IT enabled services (ITES) exports reached $2.8 billion in the first nine months of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, up 24% year on year. That keeps the sector on track for $3.5–3.7 billion for the full year, comfortably within the brokerage’s forecast of 10 15% annual expansion.
The momentum has become more visible in daily flows: Topline calculates that exporters repatriated $18 million a day in March, versus $16 million in February. Net exports — after deducting the sector’s own import bill for software licences and cloud hosting — stood at $311 million, another record and 13% higher year on year.
Headline growth only tells half the story. Bankers and founders say the real driver is not a sudden boom in billable hours but a higher proportion of revenue being brought home. With development teams scattered across Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad but billing clients in the Gulf, the United States
and the European Union, many companies traditionally parked earnings offshore to finance overseas marketing, pay cloud bills or hedge against rupee volatility.
That behaviour began to shift in October 2023, when the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raised the “permissible retention limit” in specialised foreign currency accounts from 35% to 50% of export proceeds. The reform — quietly welcomed by an industry that had long lobbied for flexibility — gave exporters more confidence that funds kept in Pakistan could be converted back into dollars when needed.
Even more consequential was the SBP’s decision this fiscal year to create a new “equity investment abroad” window, allowing IT firms to use up to half of their retained dollars to buy stakes in foreign subsidiaries or acquisition targets directly from those specialised accounts.
The initial data suggest the carrot is working: a Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) survey cited in the Topline report found 62% of IT companies now maintain these foreign currency accounts .
Policy tweaks would matter little if demand were sputtering. Instead, Pakistani vendors report brisk new business pipelines, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies that are racing to digitise public services. A 70 strong delegation of firms booked more than 1,000 meetings at LEAP 2025 in Riyadh and Web Summit Qatar 2025 this spring, according to the Ministry of IT. Topline credits GCC work for much of the incremental growth, noting that companies “are aggressively expanding their client base in the region” .
A closer look reveals a subtle shift in the mix. Legacy call centre contracts — where generative AI threatens to automate voice interactions—now account for less than a fifth of industry revenue. The fastest growing lines are software, domains in which domain expertise counts as much as wage levels.
Exchange rate stability has amplified these tail winds. After a brutal 2022 23 devaluation cycle, the rupee has traded between 275 and 285 to the dollar for six months, supported by a $7 billion IMF programme.
None of this means Pakistan is insulated from automation risk. A March study by McKinsey argues that generative AI could perform the equivalent of “up to 30% of the hours worked today” in software and BPO roles by 2030, squeezing pure labour arbitrage models.
The government appears to have grasped the stakes. Under the cabinet endorsed “Uraan Pakistan” economic plan, the government has set a $10 billion IT export target by fiscal year 2029, implying a compound annual growth rate of 28% from today’s base . Meeting that goal will require not just continued policy support but also an upgrade in skills—from coding to prompting, from data entry to data stewardship.
On the public equity side, investors are already marking out winners. Topline names Systems Ltd (PSX: SYS) its “preferred pick,” pointing to forward price earnings multiples of 13.4 times 2025 earnings, dropping to 10.1 times in 2026 as earnings compound . Smaller, unlisted outfits in gaming, healthtech and fintech have drawn venture rounds at rising valuations after a tepid 2023.
The laggards are the handful of legacy contact centre operators that rely on volume based billing.
What could derail the run?
• Policy slippage: Exporters still gripe about paperwork for outward remittances and occasional lapses in bank level foreign currency liquidity. If those bottlenecks multiply, the repatriation trend could stall.
• Global recession: A sharp tech spend slowdown in the United States — still a major portion of Pakistan’s market — would test the sector’s newfound diversity.
• Security and connectivity: March’s record came despite repeated internet slowdowns and outages. Continued disruption could erode trust with first time clients.
Eighteen months of uninterrupted export growth is more than a statistical curiosity; it is a repudiation of the idea that low cost tech hubs are doomed in the age of artificial intelligence. By making it easier — and safer — for entrepreneurs to keep their dollars onshore, the SBP has plugged a leak that long masked the industry’s true scale. Meanwhile, Pakistani firms have quietly climbed the value chain, selling cloud migration sprints, AI data labeling services and fintech integrations rather than just body shop headcount.
Risks abound, from currency shocks to algorithmic displacement. But for now the numbers speak: every day in March, foreign clients wired an average of $18 million into Pakistani bank accounts. In a year when AI was meant to kill the offshore coder, Pakistan’s digital exporters have never earned — or repatriated — more. And that, perhaps, is the most telling KPI of all. n
In Padel, Pakistanis might find a different kind of sports investment
As popular as padel may be, can the sport become a televised national phenomenon that halts the country in its tracks on a match day?
By Nisma Riaz
In Pakistan, cricket is not just a sport, it is a rite of passage. From the streets of Karachi under a scorching sun to the narrow alleys of Lahore, cricket is played with fervor. The thud of a taped tennis ball bouncing off a cracked street corner characterises the childhood of many Pakistanis. On any given afternoon, you’ll find children wielding makeshift bats carved from broken furniture, wickets fashioned out of soda crates, and an entire match orchestrated in the dusty streets of a neighborhood. No stadiums, no fees, no formalities. Just a ball, a bat, and a group of eager players, often interrupted by passing cars. All you need is a handful of friends, and you’re in the game.
It’s a sport that thrives on improvisation and community spirit. It’s a social equaliser and a weekend ritual.
Now, enter padel tennis, a sport many in Pakistan had never even heard of until three years ago. Suddenly, in cities like Karachi, Islamabad, and Lahore, gleaming new padel courts have cropped up behind cafes, in private clubs, and inside upscale fitness centers. Padel, a fusion of tennis and squash, is the new kid on the block, dressed in premium athleisure and promising a fresh, fast-paced experience. It’s
smaller in scale and simpler in rules compared to tennis, but don’t be fooled, playing it requires access to a state-of-the-art enclosed court, the right equipment, and often, a hefty wallet.
And here’s the irony: despite being branded as a “social sport,” padel is far less accessible than cricket. You cannot just improvise with makeshift gear and have a match on the street outside your house.
Seemingly, it is easier to arrange a padel match because you don’t require gathering eleven friends to have the illusion of a serious, passionate match that is bound to have at least a few people break out into a brawl over cheating and foul play. You only need four players to enjoy a full game, less than half of a cricket team but the barrier to entry is higher than that for cricket. Court rentals can range between Rs 4,500 to 12,000 per hour, and equipment isn’t cheap either. There’s no street version of padel; no crates for walls, no driveway hacks.
If you want to play, you need to pay. Cricket, on the other hand, is beautifully chaotic. You need eleven players to field a team, but ask anyone and they’ll tell you, “We manage.” Cousins, neighbors, even the little kid down the block, everyone joins in. It’s loud, it’s uneven, and it’s fiercely competitive. It’s improvisational genius, held together by
passion and tape.
Then how did a nation bonded together by cricket, go crazy over a sport that may be social, but also expensive and not timeless like cricket?
Well, because it is a charming sport.
Padel offers structure, exclusivity, and a certain urban cool. It’s the sport of Instagram reels and neon lights, of curated playlists echoing in high-walled courts. Cricket is dusty, democratic, and relentless, part of the DNA of every Pakistani who has ever held a bat.
So while one sport thrives in the raw chaos of the streets and the other in polished courts under LED lights, both now coexist in Pakistan’s evolving sporting scene. One symbolises where we come from, the other, perhaps, where we’re going.
From novelty to mainstream: Padel’s chokehold on Pakistanis
Until recently, the idea of picking up a new sport in Pakistan often meant choosing between cricket, cricket, and maybe football. But in the last couple of years, another contender
has quietly muscled its way onto the courts; padel. A mash-up of tennis and squash, padel has gone from a curiosity to a full-blown urban obsession, especially in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad.
Introduced commercially in Pakistan in August 2023 by Legends Arena, padel brought something fresh to the country’s leisure scene. It wasn’t just a sport, it was a new kind of social activity, one that promised quick learning, competitive play, and just the right amount of cardio for people who wanted exercise without committing to full-on gym life. With squash legend Jahangir Khan as a backer and CEO Talal Shah Khan leading the charge, Legends Arena quickly positioned itself as the face of this new sporting wave.
The setup wasn’t modest either. Located in Khadda Market, Karachi, the Legends complex transformed a decades-old, unused hockey stadium into a sprawling multi-sport venue. Starting with two padel courts, they soon realised that demand far outstripped supply. Today, they operate nine courts at their flagship and manage over 20 courts across six locations in Karachi and Islamabad. Not bad for a sport most people hadn’t heard of two years ago.
So, what is padel, and why is it such a hit?
Padel is played in doubles on a smaller court enclosed by glass and mesh walls. Think
tennis, but with less intimidating serves and a lot more wall action. The result is a fast-paced game that’s easier to pick up than tennis and more forgiving on the knees than squash. Its accessibility has been a key part of its appeal, players often say they were hooked after just one match. “You can actually play padel without being good,” said one regular player, “You can’t say that about tennis.”
And then there’s the business side. Building a proper padel court doesn’t come cheap. A single court can cost anywhere from Rs 8 million to Rs 15 million, depending on build quality, imported materials, and features like air-conditioning or lighting. That’s a hefty investment but one that’s already paying off. Most courts charge between Rs 4,500 to Rs 12,000 per hour, and during peak hours, bookings are non-stop. Early adopters like Legends Arena have already recouped their costs, while newer entrants like Padelverse, a seven-court indoor facility in Karachi’s Korangi area, are seeing similarly strong returns.
In Lahore, Padel Park launched with two courts in July 2023 and has quickly become one of the city’s busiest facilities. Despite charging Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 an hour, they report full bookings during evenings and weekends and plan to expand with three more courts soon. Smaller operators are entering the scene too, investing Rs 20–50 million on average depending on location, quality, and scope.
One interesting shift is how padel has changed how people socialise. Forget chai at the dhaba, groups now form WhatsApp chats to coordinate padel bookings. Families come together to play, friends rotate in doubles matches, and corporate groups book out courts for team-building sessions. It’s sport, sure, but it’s also the new after-hours hangout.
Investors are taking note. Many facilities are now structured around a “franchise-style” model: partners put up the capital while operators like Legends manage the experience, branding, and day-to-day operations. Others, like Padelverse, are going for high-end differentiation, climate-controlled courts, memberships, private lockers, and even birthday parties on the court.
But with rapid growth comes competition. In Karachi alone, five new courts are opening every month. While Lahore is seeing slightly slower expansion, it’s already reached the point where price wars have begun. Some clubs have slashed prices or offered steep bank discounts, 15% through Bank Alfalah, up to 50% via Bank of Punjab, in order to attract bookings.
Location and quality are emerging as major differentiators. Indoor venues like Padelverse have a clear edge in Pakistan’s scorching summer, while premium facilities like Legends continue to lead with ambiance and build quality. Others in less central areas
are struggling with weekday slots and facing pressure to compete on pricing.
Still, the market is far from saturated. If anything, it’s getting smarter. Facilities are experimenting with coaching academies, brand collaborations, tournaments, and even pop-up merch to boost engagement and revenue. Some are offering kids’ programs, women-only slots, and senior-friendly timings to tap into underserved demographics.
In short, padel in Pakistan isn’t just a trend, it’s turning into a full-blown industry. Whether it can reach the mainstream status of cricket or football remains to be seen, but it has certainly carved out a firm place in the country’s sporting and social culture.
As one investor puts it, “Padel isn’t just a sport anymore, it’s a lifestyle.”
Attracting sponsorships
Brands know the power of cricket. Every major label, from telecom giants to soft drink companies, releases elaborate cricket-themed campaigns, riding the wave of national emotion that swells with every match. Cricket season in Pakistan isn’t just about overs and wickets, it’s a marketing goldmine, where corporate giants scramble to tap into the nation’s collective heartbeat. Television commercials start rolling out weeks in advance, with catchy jingles that instantly become part of pop culture. Hashtags begin to trend days before the first toss, and social media is flooded with short videos, team chants, behind-the-scenes training clips, and branded content featuring fan-favorite players.
You’ll find cricket stars grinning down from billboards with slogans like “Dil Dil Cricket” or “Jeetay Ga Pakistan,” echoing the fervor of millions. Street-side stalls drape themselves in team colors, influencer collaborations spike on Instagram and TikTok, and entire product lines, from snacks to shampoos, are wrapped in limited-edition packaging celebrating the season. For brands, cricket is not just a sport, it’s a stage, and the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) is the biggest act of all.
The investment is enormous, and nowhere is this more evident than in the HBL PSL itself. In 2025, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) retained its position as the league’s title sponsor, having signed a staggering $22.2 million deal through to this year. This marked a 55% increase from the previous cycle, reaffirming HBL’s long-term commitment to not just cricket, but the culture surrounding it.
Other major sponsors joined the leaguewide effort as well. Jazz, one of Pakistan’s leading telecom companies, served as the digital lifestyle partner, enhancing connectivity and live streaming experiences for fans. KFC, already deeply embedded in pop culture,
jumped in with themed meal deals, player endorsements, and cricket trivia contests. Pepsi, a recurring heavyweight in Pakistani cricket marketing, continued to dominate screens and even became the title sponsor of Karachi Kings. Brighto Paints, Osaka Batteries, and Jubilee Insurance were among the legacy partners, each activating campaigns that kept their brands front-of-mind throughout the tournament.
Then there were specialised activations; ParkView City took over umpire sponsorship rights, while OKFX.io entered the scene as a trading partner, bringing financial tools to cricket audiences. Meanwhile, Cadbury added a refreshing social impact angle, launching a scholarship program aimed at promoting women’s cricket and inclusivity in sports.
Each HBL PSL franchise, too, carved out its own brand alliances. Islamabad United worked with Sabroso, while Lahore Qalandars partnered with B4U Group and The Bank of Punjab. Peshawar Zalmi, often a fan favorite, brought in Haier and Turkish Airlines, adding a global flavor to its campaign. From Fatima Fertilizer backing Multan Sultans to ARY Laguna and Imtiaz Mall supporting Karachi Kings, these partnerships weren’t just financial, they were cultural.
In essence, when cricket fever grips Pakistan, the economy follows suit. It becomes a season of storytelling, spectacle, and serious investment. And for brands, being left out simply isn’t an option.
The nascent padel culture, on the other hand, despite already having taken deep roots into Pakistani cities, the expansion almost giving Kababjee’s a run for its money, yet has to capture the market with sponsorships like in the HBL PSL.
However, despite not being a phenomenon as big as cricket, in less than three years the sport has initiated championships and tournaments across the three major cities. These events attract sponsors, not at the scale of cricket, but still impressive for a relatively new entrant. From beverage brands like Gatorade to solar energy companies, and consumer labels like Himani or Tapmat, a diverse range of businesses have already come on board to back these tournaments.
Brands and event curators are increasingly partnering with padel venues to host a variety of events, ranging from pop-up markets and game nights to full-scale music shows. At tournaments, it’s common to see a blend of local artisans and major corporations setting up kiosks and brand activations. For instance, District 19 collaborated with Padelverse to create a unique event that combined sports with lifestyle elements. Similarly, the ‘Daydream’ event hosted by XII.X featured a DJ lineup and immersive visuals, transforming the Padelv-
erse’s establishment into a vibrant cultural hub. These collaborations highlight how padel courts are evolving into multifaceted spaces that blend sport, entertainment, and lifestyle, while giving brands and companies a new canvas for marketing efforts.
Will there ever be a Pakistani padel team or perhaps just a Pakistani world champion of padel?
When the Pakistani cricket team is playing a major match, whether it’s against India, in the World Cup, or even a crucial T20, it feels like the entire country holds its breath.
Shops shut down early. Streets that are usually chaotic suddenly empty out. Offices find convenient excuses to close, schools wrap up classes ahead of time, and wedding events are paused mid-routine so someone can check the score. It’s not just a match, it’s a nationwide spectacle that takes over the collective consciousness.
Giant screens pop up in public parks, cafes rearrange their seating to face TVs, and rooftop screenings turn into neighborhood parties. Cities hum with anticipation, littered with open-air screenings, fans waving flags, others painting their faces green and white, all sharing the same nervous energy.
It’s not just about watching a game. It’s about belonging to something bigger. Wins are celebrated like Eid, with fireworks, sweets, and impromptu street parades. Losses? They sting for days, dissected over endless cups of chai and passionate debates. Cricket, during these moments, becomes more than a sport. It becomes a festival, a collective expression of hope, heartbreak, pride, and identity.
Coming back to the main question; will there ever be a Pakistani padel team or perhaps just a Pakistani world champion of padel? (Fun fact: Even though Padel might be new in Pakistan and its popularity has increased globally since Pickleball became more popular, it has been around for more than three decades. The World Padel Championship is an international tournament that has been played continuously since 1992).
That might have sounded like a wild idea a year ago, but now? Not so much. The pace at which padel has taken root in Pakistan suggests it’s not just another trend passing through, it’s becoming mainstream. On any given weekday evening or weekend morning, courts in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad are packed with players. Booking slots are snapped up days in advance. WhatsApp
groups buzz with messages trying to coordinate partners and reserve games. People who once capped their day with chai and gossip now rush to the nearest court, padel rackets slung over their shoulders like proud badges of a new identity. There are also amateur tournaments being organised.
Padel isn’t just something to do. It’s something people are building their routines, and in many ways, their friendships, around. It’s social, it’s fast-paced, and most importantly, it’s accessible. That’s where the charm of padel lies.
For women especially, padel has opened doors that cricket never quite could. In a country where girls are rarely seen playing cricket in the streets or occupying public playgrounds, padel feels different. It’s contained within well-lit, secure courts. It’s a four-person sport, so the comfort of playing with friends is baked in. And crucially, it’s not weighed down by the macho gatekeeping that often surrounds cricket or football in Pakistan. At many venues, it’s common to see women not just playing, but dominating the courts, and often outlasting the men in terms of stamina and finesse.
“Padel is the first sport I’ve ever played that didn’t feel like it came with a warning label,” said one player at Karachi’s Crosscourt powered by Legends. “I don’t feel watched or judged, and I don’t need to prove that I know the rules before stepping onto the court.”
This shift is more than symbolic. It’s actively changing who gets to participate in Pakistan’s sporting culture. Co-ed games are common. Women’s-only tournaments are on the rise. And because the barrier to entry is lower than tennis or squash, players don’t need years of training to start enjoying the game. Within a few sessions, most people are competitive enough to hold their own in a casual match.
The sport is also drawing in people from entirely different backgrounds; lawyers, bankers, architects, stay-at-home parents, fitness enthusiasts, and even those who’ve never played any racket sport before. They’re bonding over rallies, developing rivalries, creating group chats, and building communities. In a time when many feel socially disconnected or overwhelmed by digital life, padel offers something beautifully analog: real people, in real spaces, playing a real game together.
So while a national padel team might still be some time away, the foundation is already being laid. Pakistanis are showing up, picking up rackets, booking courts at odd hours, playing through Karachi’s humidity and Lahore’s smog. And if the early signs are anything to go by, the sport isn’t just here to stay, it’s here to grow.
Padel may never carry the national weight of a Pakistan-India cricket match, but in the clutter of everyday life, it’s fast becoming a different kind of obsession. n
