DESPITE an increase in international series regionally, Cricket West Indies (CWI) Board Director Dr Donovan Bennett says the organisation rarely makes a profit when international series are held in the Caribbean.

Antigua host the final leg of the West Indies home tour against Sri Lanka, starting with the first of two Tests on Thursday at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

The three-match One-Day International (ODI) series and the three match Twenty20 (T20) series took place at Sabina Park in Kingston from June 3 to June 14.

Next month, New Zealand will take on the Windies in a five-match ODI series in Guyana and Barbados, before moving on to Trinidad for a two match Test series against Pakistan.

It’s another busy summer for the West Indies, who hosted Australia last year in a Test and T20 series across Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, and St Kitts and Nevis.

However, Bennett says no revenue will be made from this year’s home matches, regardless of high crowd support. He says only the visit of India and England, expected next year, will generate profit for the region’s governing body.

“All of these tours are tours where CWI actually loses money, so I don’t want to give anybody the impression that CWI keeping the ticket sales for themselves is making a lot of money — they are not making a lot of money,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“The ticket prices are extremely low for international sport. We are talking about US$10 and US$6 US. Ten US dollars is $1,600 Jamaican, US$6 is $900 Jamaican, so the prices are significantly low — and I think they are doing that just to stimulate a bigger crowd response — but this is not a money-making thing. [For] home tours in the Caribbean, with the exception of those two countries [India and England], CWI tends to lose money from it; it’s not a money-making thing.”

Bennett says the relatively low value of broadcast rights is also limiting the revenue generated from home series.

West Indies cricketer Matthew Forde (left) takes the catch to dismiss Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka, off the bowling of Roston Chase, as teammate Romario Shephard reacts, during the first of three Twenty20 matches at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, on Thursday, June 11. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

“Most of the money from international sport is made from television coverage, and in all sports all over the world there’s been a shift in the take from television coverage for most sports. And it is not only affecting cricket, it’s affecting other sports also,” he said. “The take-up and the competitive bidding that you would normally see for international tours, you’re not seeing it anymore, so that is a factor that is very worrying also.”

Bennett, who also serves as president of the Jamaica Cricket Association, says it is also affected by the underutilisation of hospitality boxes at Sabina Park.

“A significant part of our income has to do with box holders and the renting of boxes,” he said. “We do have 106 boxes at Sabina Park. Because of the inactivity in international cricket over the past 10 years a significant number of those box holders have migrated, they have left us — and you can’t blame them because the boxes are not cheap.

“We have seen a slight uptick in the uptake of boxes now because over the past two or three years we have had a fair share of international cricket, and then the CPL is coming [as well], but it is still pretty low. Less than 50 per cent of the 106 boxes are rented right now.”

However, Bennett says CWI can only hope for an improvement in its financial fortunes.

“Even before that phenomenon which is happening now with broadcast rights,we were still losing money from most home tours,” he said. “But we have to have them because the ICC has a schedule and we have to comply, we have to satisfy that schedule. Whether we lose, win or draw, we have to satisfy that schedule.”

Since last October CWI has made significant changes due to its financial situation, including restructuring its regional competitions.

It also announced it recorded a US$28.5-million net income loss and cash resources dropped to US$1.7 million in 2025, compared to $17.5 million in 2024.