BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC- The 2014 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) pumped a massive US 166 million into the region’s economy, a new independent economic impact study revealed yesterday.
The study, conducted by SMG-Insight/YouGov, described as of the world’s leading sports measurement, research and analysis companies, says the figure represents a significant increase of 58 percent on the 2013 CPL.
A whopping figure of US$25.1 million dollars was invested into host country for the finals, St. Kitts and Nevis, second only to Barbados with US$28.7 million.
According to the study, thousands of new jobs were created in tourism and travel across the region and more than 156,000 jobs positively impacted.
“These results are fantastic and are a testament to CPL’s significance as an economic driver in the region,” said. Caribbean Premier League CEO, Damien O’Donohoe.
“While we have always said that the Caribbean is without doubt the natural home of T20 cricket, we are very proud to say that CPL is now a truly international event – appealing to fans and players from around the world – and one that the people of the Caribbean should be very proud of.”
The study also revealed that there was a significant increase in viewership with the international television audience increasing from 36 million in 2013 to 65 million in 2014.
Twenty-nine broadcasters from around the world aired the games live.
An estimated 217,176 regional and international spectators watched the competition live with incremental spend that does not include accommodation and airfares amounting to US$47.4 million.
More than 21,500 international visitors, approximately 10 per cent of total spectators, attended CPL 2014, spending US$7.9 million, the study said.
According to the study the figure of US$25.1 million was injected into Jamaica, US$24 million pumped into Guyana, US$21.1 million into Trinidad and Tobago, while US$13.9, 13.8 and 13.3 were invested into St.Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada respectively.
