By Amindha de Alwis

The Lanka Premier League (LPL) has seen yet another change in franchise ownership prior to its second edition with Founder and Chairman of Softlogic Holdings PLC, Ashok Pathirage, acquiring the Colombo-based franchise.

Pathirage said that Softlogic Holdings wishes to play a part in the evolution and growth of the LPL in the upcoming years.

“We are absolutely ecstatic to enter the Lanka Premier League. The tournament is destined to become one of the most sought-after T20 franchises in the world and we wanted to pay a part in the competition’s growth and evolvement in the next few years. We cannot wait for the upcoming season to start. Hopefully, our team plays at its best and produces the best results."

Organisers had earlier said that the Colombo franchise had been acquired by an Indian firm, but no reason for the change of ownership was given. 

Meanwhile, the LPL has joined-up with Non-Fungible Token (NFT) platform Rario in an exclusive partnership which will allow Rario to mint unique digital collectibles of noteworthy moments from the tournament.

NFTs are digital collectibles based on blockchain technology which come in the form of unique tokens. The digital tokens would give fans the opportunity of claiming singular ownership over their certain moments in a tangible, verifiable way.

Rario, which is a licensed cricket NFT platform, has previously associated with the Caribbean Premier League as well as the Abu Dhabi T10 League.