ICC World Twenty20 tournament director, Robert Bryan wants the Caribbean to “wake up” and find ways to utilise its modern stadiums for globally televised events.

“We can have a Twenty20 (cricket) league in the West Indies that can be quite as attractive as an IPL (Indian Premier League),” insisted Bryan.

“I am absolutely certain that such a league would have great commercial value outside the region, especially after we blend that with our entertainment industry with all the (cultural) elements of what we have to do…,” he told the Observer.

“I think the time is right, we have the (hotel) rooms, we have the stadiums which were built for the 2007 World Cup, there is nothing to stop us,” added Bryan, who headed Jamaica’s Local Organising Committee for the 2007 World Cup.

Cricket apart, Bryan believes athletics provides tremendous opportunities, especially after the spectacular successes of Jamaican and other Caribbean athletes in recent years.

In athletics, the region has mega stars, so the question is why should we be watching our stars compete in Europe? Why shouldn’t we be creating world events that we would be selling through television to the rest of the world? That is what will bring the maximum value added. Imagine the commercial arrangements, the commercial value that will come from that,” he said.

“Imagine if (Usain) Bolt, Asafa (Powell), the (Jamaican) 100m women’s stars, the Trinidadians, the Cubans were all to be involved what an attraction that would be to the rest of the world …,” said Bryan.

He cautioned that for “events of this nature” the Caribbean should approach planning, preparation and implementation in a “regional” fashion, “suitably scaled” and timed to maximise corporate support and commercial value.

Noting that “we (Caribbean countries) are tourism destinations”, Bryan urged that such events should be twinned with the ‘visitor’ industry.

“If there is one thing that I have learnt, having had the opportunity to work on two world events, it’s the enormous amount of economic activity that these (events) generate across the entire world. If we understand that, then that’s the legacy (from hosting two world cricket tournaments) we need to be consolidating…” he said.

But he cautioned that in the case of Jamaica, modern lighting systems must be installed at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium and at Sabina Park to maximise benefits from events such as Twenty20 cricket.

“I definitely would recommend that in Jamaica, real priority be focused on putting lights in the stadiums because those facilities have no future without lights. It makes no sense talking about costs, having already invested so heavily in the infrastructure. Jamaica is probably the only island in the Caribbean that built stadiums in 2007 without lights. We need to correct it…” he said.

The Jamaican Government spent well in excess of US$100 million on the 2007 World Cup — most of the money went to the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium and on a complete revamp of the nation’s headquarters of cricket, Sabina Park.