There has been an increase of interest among Franchise based Team owners in the past couple of years to expand beyond their domestic structure to become a global brand in Franchise T20 leagues across the globe. It first started back in Hong Kong, where PSL Franchise Islamabad United had taken the ownership of one of the teams in the HK T20 Blitz tournament and took part in the competition under the name of Hong Kong Island United. The trend is more on the show in the past couple of years with various Franchise brands getting into multiple territories to expand their reach and player-base.
In the recent past, Indian Premier League (IPL) Franchise brands have taken a keen interest in bidding for ownership in newly launched T20 Leagues in the United States and United Arab Emirates. Now the new League in South Africa also is going to have an exclusive IPL Franchise brand base, as six (6) owners have confirmed winning the bids for six (6) teams in the SA T20 League, which is scheduled to take place in January 2023. Tournament Commissioner Graeme Smith has expressed happiness about the process that took place to identify potential bidders for the League. The previous Franchise T20 League in South Africa, which was called as Mzansi Super League , ran for two (2) consecutive seasons in 2018 and 2019 and since has not been renewed, with the new League taking over as the primary domestic Franchise based T20 League in a collaboration between Cricket South Africa (CSA) and SuperSport.
SA T20 League Teams and Owners
Newlands, Cape Town: Reliance Industries Limited, owners of Mumbai Indians
Kingsmead, Durban: RPSG Sports Private Limited, owners of Lucknow Super Giants
St George’s Park, Gqeberha: Sun TV Network Limited, owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad
Wanderers, Johannesburg: Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited, owners of Chennai Super Kings
Boland Park, Paarl: Royals Sports Group, owners of Rajasthan Royals
SuperSport Park, Pretoria: JSW Sports, co-owners of Delhi Capitals
