The 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) had an economic impact of over US$136 million, a record for the T20 league since its inception in 2013, the CPL has announced.
The tournament won by the Barbados Tridents took place from September 4 to October 12.
According to the CPL, the figure of US$136,542,868, representing a 7.21 per cent increase over 2018, was calculated using organiser spend, visitor spend and media value and was collated for the tournament by world-renowned researchers, YouGov Sport.
“With Hero CPL showing the Caribbean in the best possible light in continues to be a wonderful way for the region to promote itself to the rest of the world. We have now had seven editions of the CPL and our total economic impact on the region is now worth hundreds of millions of US dollars,” said the Hero CPL Chief Executive Officer, Damien O’Donohoe in commenting on the numbers.
“This shows we are making a positive impact in all the countries we host games in. We are here to stay, making a positive economic contribution, improving our environmental impact and developing cricketers who are going to succeed in West Indies colours.”
The 34 match tournament took place in six Caribbean countries, with games taking place in Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.
The tournament increased the positive economic impact it made on each of those countries in 2019 compared with the figures from 2018.
In addition to that economic impact figure, the Hero CPL employed more than 1500 staff, filled 36,830 hotel rooms and saw an overall increase in arrivals into the host countries by those arriving to watch CPL matches.
“The CPL takes place at a time (August/September) when there are fewer tourist arrivals into the Caribbean and it is therefore pleasing to see the tournament help increase the in-bound numbers across all the markets where CPL is played,” tournament organisers said.
“We are also delighted that Caribbean nationals who live overseas choose CPL as a time to combine visits home to see family and friends - reinforcing our objective of uniting local communities through their love of cricket and country.”
The tournament also worked to decrease its impact on the environment, with positive results from a recycling scheme in Trinidad, which the CPL will be looking to replicate across the region. It also raised money for hurricane relief efforts in the Bahamas with the help of fans and commercial partners.