A new 20-over Champions League in men’s cricket will be launched in September next year as the key members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) have backed the new idea during the annual general meeting in Singapore. It will add another five weeks to the already busy calendar for the players, along with the various franchise leagues and the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

The first edition of the T20 Champions League took place in 2008 and lasted for the next six years, when the Chennai Super Kings beat the Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of the last edition. However, the company cut its losses after paying a rights fee of nearly one billion for the competition, having lost the first rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

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Cricket Australia (CA), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and the Cricket South Africa (CSA) partnered the league, as ESPN star’s right fees contributed in offering the seed funding for the first few years of the Big Bash League (BBL) before it started to give a significant broadcast rights revenue in 2013.

New T20 Champions League to be launched in September 2026

There is no certain future for the new league. The franchise league, since that passage, has grown by leaps and bounds, with many countries starting their individual events. There are several complexities in which teams will participate in the tournament. Some of the world’s top T20 players may take part in at least two or more franchise leagues per year.

There needs to be a discussion around the players, who are common on various tournaments, which raises the question of which teams they will choose. The best thing is that the members of the ICC have backed them for the idea, which may see the competition taking place from next September.

It will be interesting to see how the council has renovated a new T20 franchise league in the year, even after the decline of Test match skills around various sides in world cricket. Recently, the West Indies got destroyed for 27 runs, the second-lowest innings score in Test history, as there are plans to start the promotion and demotion standards in the game. The final decision has not been taken yet, but September 2026 is likely to see the T20 Champions League.