Six franchise owners will field teams across first-class, List A and T20 tournaments each season under a three-year deal with the BCB.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has unveiled a franchise-based domestic competition named Domestic 3, or D3, ahead of the 2026-27 season. Six companies have acquired franchises and will compete across three separate tournaments covering first-class, List A and T20 cricket every season. The BCB has entered into a three-year agreement with each of the six franchise owners. The D3 competition will club together the Bangladesh Cricket League's first-class and List A tournaments, as well as the NCL T20s, bringing them under a single franchise framework for the first time.
BCB president Tamim Iqbal said the tournament has been launched in a bid to bring "the colour back into the country's domestic cricket".
Who are the six franchise owners and what are the financial terms?
Walton, a long-standing BCB sponsor, is one of the six franchise owners. The remaining five are Acme Laboratories, ACE Blue Star, Citizens Bank, Seven Rings Cement and Fortune Group. Each owner will reportedly pay BDT 2.5 crore, equivalent to approximately US $203,283, per season to the BCB, with match fees included in that figure.
The BCB will conduct a team management draft later this week, giving franchises the opportunity to bid for their preferred coaching staff. A players' draft is planned for next month, at which each franchise must select 23 cricketers to cover all three formats. The board has also designated an icon player for every team: Mehidy Hasan Miraz for Walton, Towhid Hridoy for Fortune Group, Mosaddek Hossain for Acme Laboratories, Mushfiqur Rahim for Seven Rings Cement, Nurul Hasan for ACE Blue Star and Mohammad Naim for Citizens Bank.
How does D3 fit into Bangladesh's 2026-27 domestic calendar?
The 2026-27 domestic season gets under way on October 3 with the NCL first-class competition, a regionally structured tournament in which all eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh field separate sides. D3 operates as a distinct, franchise-driven tier and will begin with its T20 leg, which is likely to commence on December 15. The first-class tournament under D3 is scheduled for January, with the List A competition to follow in May.
By bringing first-class, List A and T20 cricket under one franchise framework, the BCB aims to give the domestic calendar a more unified and commercially coherent shape across the three-year deal. The consolidation removes the need for separately administered tournaments in each format and is intended to raise the overall profile of domestic cricket in Bangladesh.