DAMIEN O'DONOHOE is the CEO of the Caribbean Premier League. O'Donohoe, who is also the CEO of talent management agency Ikon, was instrumental in founding the Twenty20 cricket competition back in '13. The six-team league -- Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Jamaica Tallawahs, St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots, St. Lucia Zouks and Trinbago Knight Riders -- will kick off its fourth season this summer on the heels of an historic triumph by the West Indies national teams. The West Indies, which represent the best players in the Caribbean, won the men's and women's titles at the recent 2016 Int'l Cricket Council World Twenty20 tournament in India. Prior to that, the U19 team won its first world cup title in February. As a result of the success, the CPL will bring the world's best cricket players to the U.S. when it plays six matches in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in July. O'Donohoe talked to SBD Global about the West Indies world cup triumphs, CPL's move into the U.S. and the investments of actors MARK WAHLBERG and GERARD BUTLER.
On the impact of the West Indies' T20 world cup sweep ...
Damien O’Donohoe: Already we can see the impact, my phone has been ringing off the hook since Monday morning. It was such a historic day for West Indies cricket, to win the U19 world cup, win the women’s world cup and then go on in such an emphatic matter to win the men’s. Days and times like that don’t come around very often. It just really put the West Indies back on the map as the best cricketers on the planet. It’s no surprise for us because since the yesteryear of the legends in the ‘70s and ’80s there definitely has been a dip in form and in terms of success. But since we started the CPL we’ve seen so much talent come through and the games have been at the highest quality and that’s where you see players like [Carlos] Brathwaite and Andre Russell coming through. It’s no great surprise to us if I’m honest that the guys lifted the world cup on Sunday. It just reaffirms their position as the top T20 cricketers in the world.
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On comparisions with the IPL ...
O'Donohoe: We really can’t ever compare ourselves to the IPL. They are by far the biggest cricket league in the world, and they are probably one of the biggest sports leagues in the world too. We could never compare ourselves. In terms of what we are trying to do, we’ve a very, very special event in the Caribbean with the people there and obviously the international audience we have brought in because we went live in over 93 million homes last year and we continue to hope to grow that figure. But obviously we are tiny in comparison to the IPL. We look at Big Bash and we look at Ram Slam, we’ve got relationships with these guys and we speak a lot about what we are doing and how we are helping bring a whole new audience to the game. That’s how we show our success.
On playing games in the U.S. this summer ...
O'Donohoe: Moving into playing games in North America is very exciting on one hand and slightly nerve-racking on the other. It’s an unknown market. It’s the first professional cricket to ever play there and there’re a lot of headaches and stress that come with that one. We think we have a very special product and it’s like what you saw in the world cup. The Caribbean players brought a flavor and color and excitement and enthusiasm and really warmed the hearts of the cricket fans there. Even in the final on Sunday there were 75,000 people in the stadium and I’d say 74,500 were cheering on the West Indies purely for that reason. Bringing the world champions into North America is very exciting because the Americans are used to seeing the best players in the world no matter what sport it is. We believe there’s a diaspora market that’s going to turn out in force. We also believe that we, in time, will turn some American baseball fans into Twenty20 cricket lovers.
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Fort Lauderdale's Central Broward Stadium will host six CPL matches this July.
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On what makes the CPL unique ...
O'Donohoe: Our tournament is really special. We bill ourselves as the biggest partying sport and that really is what it is. I’ve been to sporting events all around the world. Nothing I’ve been to ever compares to what it's like when the stadiums are full at a CPL game. The people in the Caribbean are so passionate about their cricket, but I think they are equally passionate about partying and having a good time. We do what we can to ensure that we can help them party as hard as they can and also witness the best Twenty20 cricket around. Sports now is an entertainment package. I’m really excited about bringing that special product that we have into the U.S. and bring a real Caribbean flavor. In terms of tailgating we are doing a Caribbean flavor on that. We are really making it a Caribbean experience for everybody and try to mirror what we do on the islands in Fort Lauderdale.
On the importance of the U.S. market for the CPL and cricket ...
O'Donohoe: At the end of the day the U.S. is one of the biggest sports markets in the world. It’s a market of 330 million people that cricket has never really been exposed to. When you look at the amount of people who have immigrated to the U.S. who are all from cricket-loving backgrounds, I think there’s a real opportunity there and obviously with baseball there’s homegrown talent in that bat and ball sports. Let’s hope we can really develop some of the U.S. players. ... We are also working with the ICC on projects around the games to get into all the local schools to educate the kids from the grassroots up in terms of what cricket is all about and let them come and experience it for the first time. If you look at what the MLS has done and what soccer in the U.S. has done, we kind of are where they were 20 years ago. Hopefully as cricket develops there the ICC will look at hosting a world cup in time and so develop the sports like soccer has done so successfully.
On the investments of Wahlberg and Butler into two CPL teams ...
O'Donohoe: The whole reason they came in is they are both huge fans of the Caribbean and spent time there in their downtime and wanted to be part of this. They know by putting their name and brand to something that it is really going to help raise awareness. I don’t think there’s an interview I do where people don’t ask me about Mark Wahlberg and Gerard Butler. We’ve had a very successful partnership with both of them and we really hope that it’s really going to up the gear now that we are going into the U.S.
On the issue of match-fixing in cricket ...
O'Donohoe: It’s something that we take so seriously because even if there’s a whisper all your hard work and everything is put into jeopardy. The ICC has the ACSU, which is their independent body that we employ. We also have some undercover guards who work for us and they are present at all the games. Everything that we do around the games is because everybody is at risk when it comes to match-fixing from grounds men to our staff. They are monitoring everything on and off the field and report everything to us and then into the ACSU. We do everything that we can to safeguard our league as much as we possibly can.
Tickets for the games at Central Broward Stadium in Fort Lauderdale go on sale on Friday on www.cplt20.com.
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