REGION WILD OVER CPL – WHILE PROFITS GO ABROAD

THE region has again gone berserk over the annual Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise cricket competition – in which the profits are taken abroad. 

The ninth annual CPL T20 competition has just ended, with victory by St. Kitts-Nevis Patriots, a team owned by Winning Willows Ltd., which has American-Indian investors. 

Caribbean cricket lovers have immense emotional attachment to the fast-paced competition of six teams, but the primary financial investors are foreign-based. 

Hero Motorcorp, the Indian-based largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, is the major named sponsor. 

Investors earn returns from merchandise branding, television broadcast rights, billboard advertising, and related activities, in addition to tax benefits. 

Before Covid-19, host countries got a boost in the hospitality sector, and the creation of up to 2,500 jobs each year. 

Four-time winner Trinbago Knight Riders, which is embraced by Trinidad and Tobago sports fans, is owned by Red Chillies Entertainment, of movie megastar Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri, and Mehta Group. 

Both organisations are based in India.   

All the other franchise owners are large operators in the Indian subcontinent. 

They include venture capitalist Manoj Badale, businessmen Dr. Ranjishi Ramroop and Kris Persaud, entertainment entrepreneurs Wadia Group, PZNZ Media and Apeejay Surendra Group. 

CPL operators have claimed a “record economic impact” on the territories that host matches, but this has been disputed by knowledgeable insiders. 

An economic impact assessment conducted in 2016 found that a total of almost 250,000 fans attended the matches during that season.  

But the largest returns are enjoyed by the franchisees, who do not publicly reveal their profits. 

Players have taken as much as a 30 percent reduced earnings over the past two years as a result of the Covid-19, which have slashed gate receipts. 

There are smaller regional investors, but team ownership allows the large investors to expand their business portfolio and to reap rich rewards from a highly successful franchise. 

A major reason for the investments by businessmen is the high visibility their brands enjoy, and it comes at a much cheaper price than buying into the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

“This is a case of extended visibility from the IPL,” said Tuhin Mishra, head of a sports marketing firm. 

Sponsors are also excited that CPL has held games in Florida, USA, which allows the brands additional recognition in the largest consumer market in the world. 

Some investors with deep pockets have spoken to pouring money into each of the international premier leagues franchises around the world.  

Shah Rukh Khan has spoken of his excitement in being a franchise holder, and of the expectation that the investment “would grow form strength to strength.”
While the foreign investors rake in CPL dollars, local fans enjoy the annual thrill of seeing the world’s best T20 cricketers in competition.