Sponsors on board for local franchise

GENERAL manager of the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) Paul Skinner said despite these uncertain financial times because of the covid19 pandemic, sponsors are still showing interest in supporting the three-time champions for the upcoming 2020 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament.

The tournament, which would be played in Trinidad from August 18 to September 12, was up in the air for months due to the pandemic. The organisers have decided to host the tournament in Trinidad because the country has controlled the spread of the virus. To date, TT has recorded 139 cases of the virus with eight deaths. TT was also chosen to host the CPL because two venues of international standard are available – Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair and Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.

The CPL has taken a financial hit this year as players are expected to take a cut in pay.

Last month, a cricinfo report said, “.... top-paid players expected to accept a salary cut of up to 30 per cent when compared to 2019 levels. There will be no salary cut for players below the US$20,000 bracket.”

Players who normally earn US$160,000, $130,000, $110,000, $90,000, $70,000, $60,000, $40,000 and $30,000 are expected to be asked to accept a 30 per cent cut, and players who would have made US$20,000 will accept a ten per cent cut. Players in the $15,000 bracket or less will not receive salary cuts.

Skinner said there is interest being shown by sponsors despite challenges with covid19. “We’ve had repeat sponsors, we are in talks with some new sponsors as well. We must admit it is a challenging year for everyone. A lot of unexpected challenges with the covid coming on from March. There are challenges all around, but pretty confident that we will get a decent amount of sponsorship again this year and we are having some returning sponsors and we are thankful for those who have returned this year.

“Still some ink to go on paper, but we have had confirmations but we just finalising arrangements with some of those sponsors at the moment.”

National Lotteries Control Board and Radio 90.5FM are two companies that have supported TKR in the past.

No fans would be allowed in this year’s tournament because of the virus.

Asked if he thinks CPL sponsors would be satisfied with the mileage they get through matches on TV, Skinner said, “I think largely that will depend on what’s happening with the respective businesses. Every company or agency that we may be involved with (are) maybe evaluating where they stand at this current time and what they are looking to do for the rest of the year.”

Skinner said the local franchise has a strong brand worldwide. He said TKR give their sponsors a lot of social media visibility and the team has a strong following, which encourages sponsorship.

The calibre of players on TKR also helps. “We carry high-profile players. We have the Kieron Pollards, we have Dwayne Bravo, we have Sunil Narine, who are always crowd pullers. Bringing young and exciting new talent to the fore is a great stage for them to perform on and I think that attraction factor still will focus on TKR. That will be a positive for any potential sponsor or that is a reason why our sponsors have returned this year to sponsor again even though things in the business may not be as robust as it would have been in previous years.”

TKR normally take part in off the field activities including matches with special needs children and meet and greet sessions with fans.

Skinner said all activities this year would be within the covid19 guidelines. “What we do will be within what is allowed with the protocols established by the Government, so we won’t be doing anything outside of that.”