The time is right for New Zealand to join the rest of the world with a privately-backed, franchise Twenty20 league.
That’s the message from Don Mackinnon, the man standing at the front of the group looking to do just that.
Some 22 years on from cricket introducing the shortest format, T20 has become the vehicle in which the sport is growing around the world. And, as is the case with sports like football and basketball, strong club-based franchise competitions have proven to be the main driver of that.
Led by the Indian Premier League, established in 2008, the franchise game has slowly but surely expanded to all corners of the cricket-playing world. First to India, then England, Australia, Pakistan, the West Indies, South Africa and so on.
Even non-cricketing strongholds such as the US, Canada and even Nepal have franchise domestic leagues. The only exception to that is New Zealand.
Since the inception of T20 cricket, New Zealand has maintained a domestic competition made up of the six major associations – Auckland, Northern Districts, Wellington, Central Districts, Canterbury and Otago – known as the Super Smash.
However, the lack of a franchise-style model has left the Super Smash outdated.
Instead of operating as New Zealand Cricket’s (NZC) main driver of revenue, the Super Smash is instead seen as a breeding ground for local talent, allowing Kiwi players to develop and step into the Black Caps and White Ferns respectively.
And while that might be beneficial for New Zealand’s national sides, the Super Smash being left off Sky’s new cricket broadcast deal from the start of next summer shows the model, as it stands, is broken.
But, led by Mackinnon, a consortium that includes former Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming and New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association boss Heath Mills wants to take New Zealand into the franchise world.
The proposed “NZ20″ would involve teams created by the major associations being sold to private owners, and establish a league to be played at the height of the Kiwi summer in January, as early as the start of 2027. It would also provide parity to what has been shown to work around the world.
While the format is still to be finalised, the NZ20 would theoretically be a Kiwi-based league providing New Zealand’s players the opportunity to play a franchise competition at home.
As and when a format is decided, and agreed to by New Zealand Cricket, the major associations and the players’ association, the NZ20 would revolutionise the sport in Aotearoa.
Speaking to Weekend Sport with Jason Pine, Mackinnon – chairman of the NZ20 Establishing Committee – explained that while similar attempts to implement a franchise league in New Zealand haven’t materialised, the state of the sport in 2025 has changed that equation.
“If we go back a decade, I was actually on the board of New Zealand Cricket,” he said. “We looked at setting up a franchise league back in 2013-2014 ... At the time, we didn’t think it was viable. But as one highly respected figure put to me, there’s never been more money in the international game of cricket at the moment.
“So many people around the world are excited by it and investing in it, but New Zealand is not part of that.
“I just think the time is right to tweak that model and create something in our domestic league that fans are excited by. The money is there, the interest is there. The timing is perfect.”
Naturally, with this kind of expansion, falsehoods have materialised. For a start, Mackinnon dismisses any notion the NZ20 is a “rebel league”, as suggested when first reported.
Mackinnon concedes “it would be crazy to do this without the support of New Zealand Cricket”.
Earlier this year, the NZ20 Establishing Committee presented the concept to NZC. In turn, two members of the NZC board are also part of the Establishing Committee, at a time when the governing body assesses multiple options as to how to revolutionise the shortest format here.
Mackinnon also points out that what the NZ20 intends to do isn’t new.
Cricketing nations across the globe have implemented the same models, where privately-backed franchises co-exist with national boards to allow T20 to operate as the centrepiece of the domestic season.
Those models have provided the blueprint for the NZ20 Establishing Committee to take on board.
“What we’re looking to do here is not novel,” Mackinnon said. “In actual fact, it’s done all around the world.
“The better question might be ‘why aren’t we?’ The South African league, for example, has gone from loss-making to extraordinarily successful. The Caribbean league has done exactly the same.
“The Caribbean league is probably the model we’ve mostly looked at as replicating, in part. It’s a relatively small economy, a relatively small talent pool. And yet it is reinvigorating the game in the Caribbean.
“Will it be here in 30 years’ time? I don’t know. But the model is certainly doing great things for the game at the moment. There is absolutely no reason why we can’t do it here.”
What’s more, there is also evidence of Mackinnon’s suggestion of franchises having stakes controlled by the major associations, while selling ownership to investors.
For example, England’s “The Hundred” competition initially involved its franchises being co-owned by the English county cricket sides. However, when put to tender earlier in 2025, hundreds of millions of pounds were raised for the counties to use as they saw fit, including investing in the grassroots.
The biggest potential worry for the NZ20 – if successful – is the window in which it would operate. If Mackinnon’s suggestion of January eventuates, the NZ20 would clash with Australia’s Big Bash League, South Africa’s SA20 and the UAE’s ILT20.
The SA20 and ILT20 are both owned by Indian private equity, while the Big Bash League is almost certain to follow a similar path in seeking outside investment.
Naturally, then, that would leave the NZ20 competing for talent, be it local or international.
For Mackinnon, though, the priority is ensuring the competition is primarily an outlet for New Zealanders.
“We’re really conscious of that,” he said. “The first thing is we want to make sure our very best players are playing in it.
“Heath [Mills] has been talking a lot to the Daryl Mitchells of this world, the Kane Williamsons – our best players. They are incredibly excited about this as a concept.
“First and foremost, you’re going to have a young kid playing for Otago, bowling to Finn Allen for example. That’s got to be good for the game in New Zealand.
“There’s an awful lot of really good white ball cricketers playing around the world, not all of them can play in South Africa and Australia.
“I have no doubt that there would be the opportunity to supplement squads. They would still be very good, exciting players that would put bums on seats.”
However, the NZ20 isn’t the only option on the table for NZC. The national body is also undertaking a review, led by Deloitte, to determine which direction it should move in.
While a similar, privately-backed franchise model is also on the table – separate from the NZ20 – the biggest potential rival would be for the NZC to seek having at least one side join Australia’s Big Bash.
While that would mean New Zealand and Australia joining forces – as seen with the Warriors in the NRL, the Breakers in the NBL and Auckland FC and the Wellington Phoenix in the A-League – it would also mean NZC has less influence on how the team could be run.
Regardless, Mackinnon, said that while the NZ20 Establishing Committee believes it has the best way forward, it ultimately wants to see what’s best for the sport – even if it means NZC moves in another direction.
“I’ll be the first to applaud NZ Cricket for looking at all of their options, they’re doing the right thing,” he said. “If they say that’s better for cricket in New Zealand, we will live with that and I will wish that project every success.
“It seems to me a competition that’s played throughout New Zealand, ideally at holiday venues at the peak of summer, with some of our best players playing, some great international players is better for fans, it’s better for players, it’s better for our regions, and personally I think it’s better for our Black Cap and White Ferns development programmes.
“But that’s just our opinion. I fully accept that NZ Cricket are looking at all their options – as they should.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.