The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Saturday announced that the finals of the “Biggest Party in Sport” will be hosted by Trinidad & Tobago for the next three years. This announcement was made after CPL signed a staging agreement with the government of Trinidad and Tobago that will see the final two matches of the tournament taking place in the country between 2018 and 2020.
The semi-final and final represent the culmination of the Biggest Party in Sport and these games will make a massive impact on the Trinidad & Tobago economy.
Trinidad & Tobago will now host four consecutive finals after the hugely successful matches played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BCLA) which saw a sellout crowd for last year’s final as home team, Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR), emerged victorious.
It was a sea of red in the final at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in 2017 (Newsday photo)
Last year the Hero CPL generated revenue for Trinidad & Tobago of US$23million and Damien O’Donohoe, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hero CPL, said he is delighted to be continuing making an impact on the country’s economy.
“Hero CPL continues to grow year on year and we are delighted with the support that we have had from the government of Trinidad & Tobago. It is clear that hosting Hero CPL games is a huge positive for the countries involved and this multi-year deal means we can plan our finals to be even bigger and better than before. On behalf of Hero CPL I would like to express my thanks to Prime Minister, Keith Rowley, Minister of Sport, Darryl Smith and also Brian Lara for pulling this deal together.”
Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs for Trinidad & Tobago, The Honourable Darryl Smith stated: “The Government of Trinidad and Tobago is pleased to continue on our Sports Tourism drive with the hosting the CPL semi-final and final for the next three years at the brand new Brian Lara Cricket Academy. Last year was the best finals ever and to top it all off TKR won at home at the BLCA. We hope that TKR can do it again in Trinidad and Tobago. We have built a great relationship with CPL and cricket fans across the world can expect a great product of high level excitement and entertainment as they did in 2017.”
The player draft ahead of this year’s sixth edition of the tournament took place in London last Thursday where teams opted for new combinations ahead of the August 8 to September 16 showpiece.
