The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and eight Pakistan Super League (PSL) team owners have discussed bringing the tournament forward to January next year, following a governing council meeting on September 1 in London. Cricinfo has learned that the proposal to hold the PSL early next year was floated by Walee Technologies, the media rights holder, due to limited advertising revenue in the April-May window - a period falling right after Ramazan when companies typically exhaust their marketing and TV ad budgets.
Cricinfo understands, however, that franchise owners have raised concerns over whether broadcast revenue will be paid in full regardless of the window, alongside worries regarding Walee's advertising budgets following underwhelming financial returns from TV rights. Under the PSL agreement, eight teams receive 95% of the broadcast revenue from the central pool. The first nine editions of the PSL, from 2016 to 2024, were held in the February-March window.
The league was pushed to April and May over the last two seasons due to the 2025 Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup, overlapping with the Indian Premier League (IPL). While the overlap ensured the uninterrupted availability of players - unlike previous years when concurrent global T20 leagues caused conflicts - the proposed shift to January would pit the PSL against South Africa's SA20 and Australia's Big Bash League (BBL) for international stars.
The PCB will also face logistical hurdles, as January and February mark peak winter in Punjab, home to three traditional PSL venues: Lahore, Multan, and Rawalpindi. Temperatures can plunge to single digits after sunset, accompanied by dense fog. To counter this, proposals suggest starting the tournament in Karachi, where winters are milder, before shifting matches to Punjab and Peshawar as the weather improves.