The CPL’s commercial reality check – By Tony Cozier

While the tournament’s popularity is beyond doubt, local governments haven’t been satisfied with their returns on investment

Photo: The Trinidad and Tobago government has pledged its support for the tournament © Caribbean Premier League

Given the Caribbean passion for cricket and its penchant for revelry, there is no more appropriate location for a T20 tournament than the region.

It was a combination that influenced Digicel, the Irish mobile-phone company long established in the region and in its cricket, to sign a 50-year agreement with the West Indies Cricket Board, originally through Barbados-based merchant bank Verus International, for the ownership of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).   

The league comprises six franchised teams, along the lines of the high-profile IPL, and the “Greatest Party in Sport” was an obvious slogan for it. The CPL has been an unqualified success on the field through its three seasons, the third of which ended in Port-of-Spain last weekend, with Trinidad Red Steel defeating the 2014 champions, Barbados Tridents, in the final.

Two Trinidadian icons of T20 cricket were rival captains, Dwayne Bravo leading Red Steel, Kieron Pollard headed Tridents. The new champions included in their ranks three South Africans and a Pakistani (the limit for overseas players for each team), along with a Bajan and six Trinidadians.  [read more]