The fifth edition of the HERO Caribbean Primer League (CPL) is gaining momentum and the possibility of expansion is endless.
Last year the CPL ventured into the only stadium in the United States of America to be built with cricket in mind, the Central Broward Regional Park, Fort Lauderdale Florida and that was a success while this time there is the possibility of a new venue being added to the bank of venues across the territories.
Pete Russell, Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the CPL, speaking on the impact of the venture said it was a very successful move and it will be heading back to the USA.
“Definitely, it was hugely successful for us; over 30,000 fans went through the turn stalls which was a record in terms of the gates there. They never had that at the Broward County before so it was exciting for us.” Russell stated.
However, Russell explained that it was unique to point out that the matches at Central Broward attracted more than 70% of non-community based viewers.
“What I think was brilliant for us and the people of Broward County, Florida were that over 70% of the people that went to the games came from outside of Broward County so it just showed that people want cricket there and will travel from around both the Americas and Caribbean to watch good cricket.” The COO said.
Meanwhile, like the addition of the USA stadium in 2016 it is a possibility that there could be a new addition in the form of another Trinidad and Tobago venue, the Brian Lara Stadium in South Florida.
Russell also spoke highly of the possibility of this being a reality noting that “I think it is great for Trinidad as well to have another first class international cricket center so we are excited about that and obviously Brian Lara wouldn’t put his name to it if it wasn’t of the highest quality so we are excited about looking at that facility and seeing if we can play games there as well.”
In 2016 with the world’s fastest growing T20 tournament contributing a significant economic boost of over USD $102,670,565 across each of the seven host territories; Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago and Lauderhill, Florida.
Each of the host countries benefited to a sizable financial windfall which is broken down as follows; Barbados ($15,878,628), Guyana ($15,447,309), Jamaica ($11,151,017), St. Kitts & Nevis ($22,722,350), St. Lucia ($10,853,052), Trinidad & Tobago ($14,034,964) and Lauderhill, Florida ($12,583,246). For a full breakdown by country please see below.
With the addition of Central Broward Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida, the staging of the final round of pool matches, which were held between July 28 and 31, helped generate a $12,583,246 boost into the wider Fort Lauderdale economy. The Florida swing of matches marked professional cricket’s first official entry into the United States of America, and saw in the region of 30,000 fans descend on Lauderhill which indicates that playing a select number of games outside the Caribbean has proven to be a success. Tourists who attended these matches also spent $4,751,872 in the local economy.
