Covid19 crashes Biggest Party in Sport

DUBBED the Biggest Party in Sport, past editions of the Hero Caribbean Premier League had certainly lived up to its marketing pitch. But 2020 has brought an unprecedented challenge and new "visitor" to the CPL. Covid19 has bowled out many of the spectacles and traditions that make CPL such an enjoyable show.

Any CPL fan across the Caribbean can recite the ritual of a match day.

In Trinidad, people could be a mile from the Brian Lara Cricket Academy or the Queen's Park Oval and know a CPL match was about to bowl off.

Scalpers would be leaning and looking into cars shouting, "Who have the extra one to sell? or "Who needs tickets?"

Vendors trying to make a hustle would be selling all types of merchandise to make the experience more exciting for the fans - flags, horns, t-shirts. When it comes to food there is always a wide range of options to choose from. Covid19 prevented all that from taking place.

On Tuesday, driving to the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba it was clear this was not the CPL that has been around since 2013. The match was about to bowl off between Trinbago Knight Riders and Guyana Amazon Warriors and I was still able to park a stone’s throw away from the entrance. Finding a park at CPL match day is usually more challenging than picking which way a Sunil Narine delivery was going to turn.

After my temperature was checked in keeping with covid19 preventative measures, I walked into the venue. The new normal was on display at the venue as some of the groundsman sat far apart.

Print media is normally positioned on the northern end of the ground, the same end that the players are based. To practise physical distancing, print media personnel were at the southern end of the ground.

If it was not for the colourful uniforms worn by TKR and Guyana Amazon Warriors, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a Cricket West Indies Regional Four-Day contest with only a sprinkling of a die-hard fans in attendance. This year no spectators will be allowed in the stadiums, giving an eerie feeling to the Biggest Party in Sport.

To recreate a semblance of action at the stadium, there were cardboard cutouts of fans strategically positioned so cameras can capture in the background while showing the on-field play.

This is the new norm in the sporting world with no live spectators for the UEFA Champions League, English Premier League and NBA.

The crowd would normally be so lively at a TKR match that captain Kieron Pollard would have had to shout instructions to his players.

There was no Mexican wave, no children doing the floss (dance) when they saw themselves on the big screen and no nutsmen shouting creative lines to get an extra sale.

Financially, the 2020 CPL would suffer tremendously. If Tuesday's opening match was sold out and everyone paid $200, tickets sales alone would have totalled $3.4 million.

At least TT would earn some revenue with over 250 players and officials staying at the Hilton Hotel for approximately six weeks.

However, a vendor in Guyana or a taxi driver in Barbados would not be so lucky. Every year, matches are spread throughout six countries including Trinidad, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Jamaica, Barbados and Guyana. Thousands benefit financially every year.

A CPL press release in January gave details of the financial impact under normal circumstances.

“The Hero Caribbean Premier League has announced that the 2019 tournament’s economic impact for TT was over $30 million US.”

It was an increase from the 2018 tournament. “The 2019 event, which took place between September 4 and October 12, created a total economic impact of US$30,347,003 in the country. This represents an increase of 18 per cent on the 2018 figure, with the tournament staging five group games, the semi-finals and final as well as two historic women’s (T10) matches in the country,” the release continued.

The figure, collated by world-renowned researchers YouGov Sport, has been calculated using organiser spend, visitor spend and media value.

The release, explaining further how TT benefited from the event, said, “In addition to that economic impact figure the Hero CPL employed 489 staff in TT and filled 10,642 hotel rooms during the 2019 event. With the final taking place in the country, there was a 15 per cent increase in arrivals into TT in October compared to the same month in 2018.”

TT was chosen (before the recent spike in covid19 cases) to hold the entire 2020 tournament because of its ability to control the spread of the virus and also because of the two international venues - Brian Lara Cricket Academy and Queen's Park Oval.