#empty stadiums

PSL 2026 Behind Closed Doors — The Iran-War Season

Pakistan Super League 2026 became the first major franchise tournament in modern cricket history to be played behind closed doors for reasons unrelated to a pandemic. Citing the economic and logistical impact of the 2026 Iran war, the Government of Pakistan and the PCB announced on 22 March that the season would be confined to Lahore and Karachi and played to empty stadiums to reduce inter-city movement and conserve fuel. The opening ceremony was cancelled. A pink-ball broadcast experiment, fake-crowd-noise audio leaks, and broadcast-quality complaints turned the season into a string of small public-relations crises.