PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Caribbean Premier League organisers have combined with online social networking service, Facebook, to broadcast all 34 games of the new season, live to 40 countries.

The move is a pioneering one as it is the first time ever international games will be broadcast using the latest feature on the social network, Facebook Live.

Countries including Pakistan, South Africa and the Philippines, along with the likes of Argentina and Hungary, will now have access to the June 29 to August 7 tournament, which gets underway Wednesday with title-holders Trinbago Knight Riders and St Lucia Zouks squaring off at Queen’s Park Oval here.

“We are delighted to announce how we’re using Facebook Live, which we believe has the potential to change the face of cricket broadcasting and enhance the CPL’s ever-increasing international audience,” said CPL’s chief operations officer, Pete Russell.

“In 2015 the CPL’s global viewership exceeded 93 million and we now have the platform to boost our viewership even further for the forthcoming tournament.

“On Wednesday night the CPL will make television history and in doing so extend our reach to both traditional and non-traditional cricket followers across the world. We are hugely excited about this development and look forward to engaging more followers internationally.”

Gareth Capon, CEO of Facebook’s official live streaming partner, Grabyo, said the use of Facebook Live presented CPL with an excellent opportunity for further expansion of its product.

“On the pitch, T20 cricket is helping to globalise and expand the sport of cricket, bringing a new generation of fans into the game,” Capon noted.

“The use of social video, particularly live streaming, presents an opportunity to reach an unparalleled audience far beyond the traditional broadcast ecosystem.

“Facebook offers a user base of 1.6 billion and to be able to bring live action from the best cricketing talent direct to mobile devices around the world, right as the action happens, is incredibly exciting.

“We look forward to working with the CPL throughout the tournament and helping them use social video to engage new audiences across the globe.”

TKR and Zouks will be joined by 2014 champions Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, 2013 Jamaica Tallawahs and St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, for the campaign that will see games also played in Florida, United States for the first time.