By Prior Beharry
THE 2023 edition of the Caribbean Premier League had a viewership of 853.5 million.
This makes it the second most-watched T20 tournament in the world. Only the Indian Premier League (IPL) has a larger viewership.
CPL Chief Executive Officer Pete Russell made the revelation on Thursday at the Brix Hotel in St Ann’s Trinidad.
He also unveiled a new CPL logo.
Russell said there was a 23% increase in viewership when compared to the 2022 numbers.
He added, “This makes us quite comfortably the second most watched T20 league in the world which is pretty impressive when we think of the time zone we play on.”
Russell said the largest viewership was India with the United States being significantly higher, “probably because the Guyanese did well.”
He said there were also higher numbers in the Caribbean region, with results showing that people in South East Asia woke up during the early hours of the morning to catch the matches and even the reruns.
A release from the CPL on Friday stated the viewership figures represented the fourth consecutive year where the total viewership of CPL has gone past half a billion viewers and the tenth consecutive year of the total viewers increasing year on year.
It stated, “There was a big increase in viewership in the USA with the broadcast audience up by more than 300%. There was also a significant increase in broadcast viewership in India with a 33% uplift on the 2022 numbers.
Russell said: “The new logos represents the vibrancy and colour of the Caribbean, as does the CPL. Combining carnival and cricket has been a huge part in the success of the CPL over the years and this new branding further cements this for CPL going forward.
“We continue to grow as a tournament and to see our viewership numbers increase yet again is a fantastic achievement. We are getting closer and closer to a billion viewers across the event, and we are confident that this is something we will achieve in the near future.”
The CEO said 250,000 tickets were sold which was a 17 % increase year on year with the last ten games in Trinidad and Guyana being sold out.
He said there 12,000 tickets were given away for 10 am games and in 2024, the Trinbago Knight Riders will have a game in Trinidad in that time slot.
Russell said the Women CPL will remain with seven games and be a separate tournament from the men.
He said, “That is the start of a very important process so they are recognised in their own right with 7 pm games.
“They will have their own oxygen.”
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