KINGSTON, Jamaica — Organisers of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) say the economic impact of the tournament last year exceeded the US$100-million mark for the first time in the history of the competition.

According to a CPL statement, the total economic impact for the seven countries where the tournament had matches in 2018 was US$127,355,010, representing a 34 per cent increase over the previous year.

This figure has been arrived at using organiser spend, visitor spend and media value and was calculated for Hero CPL by world-renowned researchers, SMG Insight, the statement added.

Speaking about the report from SMG Insight the Hero CPL Chief Executive Officer, Damien O’Donohoe, said: “We set out to continue to have a positive impact on the Caribbean as one of our goals for the 2018 tournament and to see a 34 per cent increase from last year is fantastic news for both Hero CPL and the region. The tournament has shown amazing growth over the last six years and is now a mainstay of the cricket calendar and a great way to showcase what the Caribbean has to offer. We plan for that to continue.”

In addition to the economic impact figure, Hero CPL said it employed 1,942 local personnel across all seven tournament locations and filled 37,037 hotel rooms during the 2018 event.

It also said the amount of money that was spent by visitors for Hero CPL rose again in 2018, reaching a total of US$24,735,209.

Meanwhile, CPL disclosed that the value for the seven tournament locations in terms of media exposure was US$46,869,599, more than double the media value the tournament achieved in 2017. This increase was in part due to the new broadcast deals with Star Sports in India and Sky Sports in the UK, it said.