BREAKING NEWS: St Kitts to host CPL finals
Tourism-based St Kitts outbids oil-rich T&T
Months of speculation followed by intense bidding and negotiations over the last few weeks have seen the tourism-based Caribbean island of St Kitts and Nevis winning the right to host this year’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) semi-finals and final.
After hosting a successful CPL final last year, there will be no final this year for Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). The oil-rich T&T was at the forefront of the bidding process and negotiation to host this year’s prestigious CPL finals, having already done so last year. However, T&T lost the final bid to St Kitts and Nevis which is relishing the opportunity to host such a major cricket tournament with all the accompanying trappings and benefits this will bring to the island – economically, socially and to its tourism sector.
INews, a few minutes ago, was informed by an authoritative source at CPL that St Kitts will be the host of the finals this year.
Guyana and several territories in the Caribbean were offered to bid for the CPL 2016 finals. In fact, Guyana and T&T were at the forefront of negotiations at one point, but no positive word or commitment came from Guyana.
Chief Executive Officer of CPL, Damien O’Donohoe on Sunday admitted that although no final decision had been made (up to that point) after weeks of negotiations between the CPL and the government of Trinidad and Tobago, being represented by legendary batsman Brian Lara, the finals will go to “another venue in the region”.
FLASHBACK: Cheerleaders cheer for their team during the Limacol Caribbean Premier League 2014 final match between Guyana Amazon Warriors and Barbados Tridents at Warner Park on August 16, 2014 in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis. (Photo by Randy Brooks/LatinContent/Getty Images)
This was a clear indication that T&T’s chances of hosting the semifinals and final of the Hero CPL 2016 had faded, despite the efforts of former West Indies batting star Brian Lara.
Meanwhile, the Trinidad Guardian newspaper had also reported that the total direct impact of the 2015 tournament for the T&T economy was stated as US$15.40 million.
The proposal also outlined to all governments that a total of 93,929 fans attended the matches in T&T and as a result 551 jobs were created. In addition, a television audience of 27.3 million persons viewed the games, and a total of 5,703 nights were spent by non-local spectators at the hotels in T&T. (Mark Ramotar)
