THE POPULARITY of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cannot be denied. The players have performed, the crowds have turned out and have partied, and there are some big-name sponsors on board. It has been a huge success, at least with spectators. It has even dealt a blow to insularity, given the warm embrace given all the players.
The owners of the CPL are, unfortunately, not singing songs of praise. Their big complaint is that the Barbados leg of the tournament has been a financial drain and an unsustainable one.
The undertaking of this competition is like any other venture where there is a certain element of risk involved. If it is successful, the investors could walk away with rewarding returns. If it does not achieve the kind of financial support projected, then the investors could be left in the red.
In business, while it is the desire of most investors to have a good return on their investment, there is no guarantee that this will happen. Sports promoters are no different from those who invest in other areas of leisure or, for that matter, any other type of business.
That is why we are surprised, even taken aback, to hear the CPL chief executive officer Damien O’Donohoe and its chief operations officer Pete Russell indicate that because the Barbados leg of this business has been a “commercial disaster”, they were looking to Government to salvage their operations.
The CPL has displayed a certain level of marketing savvy in its approach to the tournament and this same aggression should be applied to its overall business strategy, including its financial projections.
Given that the Barbados Government does not pump money directly into the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), there can be no real justification for pumping money into the CPL. We only need consider the exposure gained or the foreign exchange earned during England’s cricket tour earlier this year under a WICB-organised event.
What the CPL must do is to look for new business opportunities. It should consider exploring the United States and Canada where there is a captive cricket audience amongst the diaspora from the Caribbean and more so the Asian sub-continent.
Interested brand name sponsors and big-name sponsors may also be in those markets. There is also the possibility of bigger gate receipts and enhanced television rights from these markets.
The reality is that apart from certain concessions, most Caribbean countries cannot put the financing of CPL ahead of the long list of national necessities already seeking a piece of their economic pie. The financially strapped Fruendel Stuart administration would be hard-pressed to explain why it would put US$1 million into this tournament.
Both Mr O’Donohoe and Mr Russell must realise that threatening to pull the stumps on the Barbados Tridents will not create any national scare.
