Top 5 — Caribbean Premier League Tops 1 Billion Viewers
Plus Atlanta welcomes college football fans, Brian Lara returns to the spotlight, and more.
Whatsup Squad,
Let’s get into the top stories of the week:
⭐️ FEATURE STORY
CPL Viewership Surpasses 1 Billion
The Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League’s (CPL) combined digital and broadcast viewership has gone past the billion mark for the very first time.
Viewership for the 2024 tournament reached 1.13 billion, up from just 66 million in 2013.
With steady growth over the last decade, the CPL is comfortably the second most watched T20 league in the world (behind the IPL).
The tournament has seen improved viewership in India, the Caribbean and USA as well as a significant increase across CPL’s social media channels.
Bottom Line - This represents the fifth consecutive year where the total viewership of CPL has gone past half a billion viewers and further cements the CPL’s position as the region’s most valuable sports property.
Read more here
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
Brian Lara Returns to the Spotlight
Usain Bolt is undoubtedly the best Caribbean athlete of all time, but Brian Lara has a strong case for the top 5.
Known as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, he is cricket royalty.
And in his latest book, he offers an intimate, first-person account of his humble beginnings in Trinidad to his meteoric rise on the international cricket stage.
Lara emphasized that his main motivation for the book was to inspire young people in T&T
But that’s not all for the 55-year-old Lara.
As part of the newly formed International Masters League (IMLT20), Lara will lead the West Indies team.
Bottom Line - Cricket continues to grow in popularity across the world, with new T20 leagues accelerating adoption. The IML T20 satisfies the strong desire among fans to re-witness age-old battles in newer formats. The other teams participating in the tournament are Sri Lanka, Australia, England, and South Africa.
Read more on Lara here
🇺🇸 America
Atlanta Wins With College Football National Championship
The first 12-team College Football Playoff culminates in Atlanta with a heavyweight battle between two of the sport’s most historic programs.
According to TickPick, this is the most expensive college football championship game of all time.
While 70,000 fans fill Mercedes Benz Stadium, thousands more will participate in a number of festivities surrounding the game.
Bottom Line - Not only does Atlanta become the first city to host the College Football Playoff National Championship twice, but the city will also benefit from $75 million in economic impact for local restaurants, hotels, vendors and other businesses
Read more here
🌎 World
Maverick Carter Advises New Basketball Super League
Lebron James' business partner Maverick Carter is advising a group of investors raising $5B to establish an international basketball league.
Here’s the scoop:
Investment banking firms UBS and Evercore have been brought in to help raise the money.
The new league is set to comprise six men’s and six women’s teams.
Inspired by Formula 1, games will be played in eight global cities, with two weeks in each city.
Bottom Line - There is a wealth of basketball talent globally, but the vast majority never make it onto an NBA or WNBA roster. With high-level basketball leagues hosted on nearly every continent (and limited competition across leagues), I’m very bullish on this venture and its ability to attract fans from around the world.
Read more here
🌎 World
More Than a Game — Remembering MLK
Dr. King was not an athlete, but he understood the importance of sports.
As a teenager in 1947, he witnessed Jackie Robinson break the MLB’s color barrier, demonstrating how social change can be communicated through the medium of sports.
From Muhammad Ali to Bill Russell, numerous athletes credit King for inspiring them to fight for positive change with their platform.
Before his assassination, he inspired athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos to protest (instead of boycott) the 1968 Olympics in the fight for racial justice.
Bottom Line - From the MLB to the Olympics, Dr. King was involved in some of history's most critical collisions of sports and politics. His legacy in the sports arena echoes loudly: it’s more than a game; it’s a platform.
Read more here
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Until next time ✌🏾