By Avenash Ramzan
The final leg of the Hero Caribbean Premier League 2023 is set to place during the latter half of September, Chief Executive Officer of the League, Pete Russell, announced on Friday.
In an exclusive interview with News Room Sport, Russell highlighted that the tentative window is September 14-24, with Guyana set to host the final and playoff games for the second time in a three-year agreement.
“We may even come a little bit earlier than that, but that is the sort of window that I would plan for,” Russell said.
CPL announced this week that the 2022 tournament generated a huge economic impact for Guyana as the country hosted the finals for the very first time as part of the newly-created Cricket Carnival.
“The total economic impact for Guyana in 2022 was US$84,425,587, a 186% increase on the figure from the last time the country hosted Hero CPL matches in 2019,” CPL reported.
“Businesses across the country benefitted from the significant uplift of in-bound tourism during September last year, as people travelled to be part of the Biggest Party in Sport. The fans certainly didn’t disappoint with almost 50,000 attending the playoff games alone.”
Russell said: “The reception for the Hero CPL in Guyana last year exceeded anything we have seen before, and we are hugely grateful for the vision of His Excellency Irfaan Ali, who masterminded the Cricket Carnival concept and showed how cricket can deliver significant economic value when planned alongside other entertainment initiatives. We are so grateful for the amazing support we continue to receive in Guyana and are thankful that we have been able to repay the country with these fantastic numbers. We can’t wait to make an even bigger impact in 2023.”
The total viewership for the 2022 Hero CPL also smashed all records as it increased to 721.8 million. This is the third successive year that the tournament has generated a viewership figure of over half a billion.
Meanwhile, the much-anticipated Player Draft 2023 will take place in June, with the franchises currently working on their list of retained players.
