The 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) generated a huge economic impact for Guyana as the country hosted the finals for the very first time as part of the newly created Cricket Carnival.
The total economic impact for Guyana in 2022 was US$84,425,587, a 186% increase on the figure from the last time the country hosted Hero CPL matches in 2019.
The vision of His Excellency Irfaan Ali in showcasing the country’s many creative and social attributes whilst making the country the entertainment capital of the region for two weeks in September, led to the most successful hosting of any CPL finals. Businesses across the country benefited from the significant uplift of in-bound tourism during September last year, as people travelled to be part of the Biggest Party in Sport. The fans certainly didn’t disappoint with almost 50,000 attending the playoff games alone.
With CPL spending more time in Guyana than previous years along with the change to the tournament structure where all six teams, TV production crew and tournament staff travelled as one cohort CPL’s direct spend increased significantly, with one metric showing a total of 25,783 hotel room nights filled across the tournament, a 236% increase on the figure from 2019.
This report was generated by independent, world-renowned research company, YouGov Sport, with the make-up of the values including the total spent by Hero CPL to put on the 2022 event, the value of media exposure for the country from the broadcast of matches and the money spent with local business by those who travelled into Guyana for the tournament.
The total viewership for the 2022 Hero CPL also smashed all records as it increased to 721.8million. This is the third successive year that the tournament has generated a viewership figure of over half a billion.
Pete Russell, Hero CPL’s CEO, said: “The reception for the Hero CPL in Guyana last year exceeded anything we have seen before, and we are hugely grateful for the vision of His Excellency Irfaan Ali, who masterminded the Cricket Carnival concept and showed how cricket can deliver significant economic value when planned alongside other entertainment initiatives. We are so grateful for the amazing support we continue to receive in Guyana and are thankful that we have been able to repay the country with these fantastic numbers. We can’t wait to make an even bigger impact in 2023.”
