Having foreign teams play in the regional T20 cricket series will maximise the earning potential for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) as it relates to television rights, Corporate Communications Officer of the WICB Imran Khan says. Khan was responding to an article that appeared in the Trinidad Guardian on Monday which stated that the WICB will spend US$1M to bring in a foreign team.
According to Khan, the article highlighted one of two approaches the WICB could take in its efforts to enhance the global brand value of West Indies cricket.
“The anonymous official quoted in the article suggests an approach which can be described as backward, piecemeal and band aid approach of bits and pieces spending here, there and everywhere. This ill-advised, shallow and short term approach, adopted in the past, has failed to be of significant benefit to West Indies cricket to date,” Khan declared.
He added that the WICB was way ahead in their thinking and said the WICB:”Has taken a medium to long term view of the investment as part of its strategic plan to maximise the commercial value of marquee tournaments.
This has resulted in the decision by the WICB to bring in English champion clubs Hampshire and Somerset to play in regional tournaments.
“The WICB approach seeks to rebuild its brand value to earn value on its tournaments. There are two major facets of this approach – providing television coverage to be able to attract sponsorship and investor interests and to earn direct sponsorship for high profile and valued tournaments.
“Caribbean Twenty20 2010 and 2011 are part of the investment phase but the WICB fully expects that Caribbean Twenty20, as the marquee tournament of the WICB, with a critical international element, will be able to bring a return on the investment of the initial years.
He explained:”The WICB operates in a limited regional market which is not adequate to sustain – through sponsorship and advertising – a tournament of the nature and magnitude of Caribbean Twenty20.
“The international component – so as to tap into larger more lucrative global television markets – is therefore critical. The WICB understands the dynamics and realities of the regional and international cricketing landscape, particularly from commercial and television rights perspectives and has developed relevant and contemporary strategies for exploiting these.
“The WICB believes that having attained commercial value, the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament would be able to help in subsidising the operational costs of other tournaments even as the WICB seeks sponsorships for these tournaments which are more developmental in nature and thus have a lower commercial profile.”
”Those who hold a narrow short term view of the development of West Indies cricket or those who see real development as a non-priority will naturally embrace a piecemeal, band aid approach geared towards an endless cycle of inadequate tournaments and development programmes,” Khan said.
