January 26 – The steps towards a professional league in the Caribbean took another pace forward with the second meeting of the Caribbean Premier League Task Force which reviewed regional stadium infrastructure study with a view to identifying which countries could host league matches.
A professional Caribbean league has for some time been the aspiration of football administrators across the region – but so far talk has been cheap and no-one has so far raised the money to fund the league. While the money is still not there, the talk is at least taking place at a high level.
The current task force is an initiative of CONCACAF and brings together a global group of experts including English Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, MLS Commissioner Don Garber, and Liga MX President Decio De Maria.
“This meeting signifies another step that CONCACAF has taken to evaluate the viability of a Caribbean league,” said president Jeffrey Webb. “We would all agree that to continue with the advancement of football in the Caribbean region we must improve the foundation of the sport and develop necessary infrastructures and talents.”
The infrastructure study visited four countries and nine stadia to evaluate which countries could host and participate in a potential Caribbean Premier League based on existing facilities. The study recommended additional visits to other markets with 5,000-plus capacity venues.
The Task Force also discussed a viability report from Rethink Management Group as well as discussing potential league formats.
Among the many topics discussed was the initial Caribbean Professional League viability report, created by Rethink Management Group, a renowned consultancy firm focused on advising football entities internationally. The presented report led to the discussion on the positives and negatives of potential competition formats and their correlated financial models.
Key to the kick off any professional league is its ability to sustain itself professionally and the next phase of the study process is an interrogation of the ticket sales, sponsorship and TV broadcast metrics.
While the progress may not be fast, the determination to get there seems strong. Asis the support from the world’s biggest league. “The excellent work that the Task Force has already done provided a very good basis for our discussions. The Premier League is honored to be involved and will assist in any way it can to bring this initiative of President Webb and his colleagues to reality,” said Scudamore.
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