Tobago may get CPL team
By Vinode Mamchan (Guardian).
Tobago may get a franchise in the Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament in the not too distant future.
This is the news from chief executive officer of the CPL, Damien O’Donohoe, who said that the island may soon be joining the elite in Caribbean cricket by having its own place in the premier tournament which ended in front of a packed crowd at the Queen’s Park Oval on Sunday.
O’Donohoe said he spoke with the Tourism Minister Gerry Hadeed on the possibility, and the Minister, himself a former top local cricketer, was keen on giving the largely tourism driven economy a boost.
Currently the local franchise is the T&T Red Steel which represents both islands but several other countries and territories, influenced by the impact which the tournament has had in the Caribbean, are keen to get their hands on a franchise.
O’Donohoe added that having a franchise in America was a pipe dream but the organisers were interested in having CPL matches played there.
“At the moment the six franchises are working well for us. We like to keep things tight and do it right. In this part of the world, it is difficult market and to get sponsorship. We have six islands with packed stadiums and we would rather take this than have more islands and then you get the stadiums 50 or 60 per cent filled. At this moment it does not work out nicely for us adding teams but I’m sure it is something we are going to see in the future.
“It makes more sense when you are in an established position then you can move to seven or eight teams. There has been a lot of talk about having franchises in New York or Miami but this is a pipe dream. The American market is swamped with American sport so what we need to do is to take our existing teams to America, get them interested in the game and then look at getting franchises in places like New York.”
O’Donohoe is happy with the strides being made by the CPL saying that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) buying into the T&T Red Steel represents the faith people has in the CPL.
“I remember the first time we approached KKR to come to the CPL, they said it was a pipe dream. We are now in our third year and we have grown so much that they have decided to become a part of us by getting involved in the Red Steel.
“The KKR deal is perfect in highlighting how far we have come in the CPL, they wanted to extend and they have decided to come to the Caribbean. If you speak to Venky (Mysore), the CEO of KKR, you would understand how much respect they have for the CPL.”
