Day-Night Game 'Not Viable' (16 April 1999)

16 April 1999

Day-Night Game 'Not Viable'

The Barbados Nation

Don't expect a rush to international day-night cricket in the Caribbean.

Chris Dehring, the chief marketing officer of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), says while night cricket will be wonderful, it will not be financially viable.

According to Dehring, the WICB's main source of revenue comes from television and to play night-cricket in the region would be counter-productive.

"Here in the Caribbean, our prime television markets are external to the Caribbean, primarily in the UK," Dehring said as he addressed patrons at the awards dinner of the Barbados Society of Marketing Professionals.

"When we play here in the daytime, most of the game reaches the UK during their prime time. We get the prime time premium for our television product defaulted to us by the difference in time zones."

Dehring added that the immediate impact of night cricket in the Caribbean would be to take our television product out of prime time and into the early morning hours in the UK, thus running the risk of reducing our television revenues.

At present there is only one venue in the region which stages night cricket on a small scale, Guaracara Park in Trinidad. All the other eight Test nations play at night and fans in the region were eagerly awaiting the day when the West Indies would move up.

"We have already established that television accounts for over half of our annual revenues," Dehring said, "can we afford to take that risk, not knowing the extent, if at all, that night cricket might increase revenues?"

Dehring also mentioned that West Indies cricket still has major bargaining strength as the team remains very popular world-wide. "The images of West Indies cricket provides our insurance and that encourages international broadcasters to buy our product even when the performances on the field doesn't meet expectations," he said.

"In fact, half of our product appeal has nothing to do with cricket, but the fantastic images and reputation of the Caribbean, including the lively, fun-loving crowds and the beautiful scenery.

"Characters like Gravy in Antigua or Mac Fingall might be as important from a marketing perspective as Brian Lara hitting the winning boundary in the third Test."

Dehring said that the region should brace itself for a number of ultra-modern changes which may soon hit the game.

He stressed that West Indies cricket does not operate in a vacuum and it will be impacted upon in the same way that the region's economies are touched by world events.

"We must prepare ourselves for a world where leisure and entertainment is going to play a more productive role than old fashioned industry, where digitalisation will mean the marketing and distribution of sports, leisure and entertainment in ways we never thought possible," Dehring said.

"If there is such outcry to these minor changes, how are we going to react to some of the dramatic changes technology will bring ... umpires wired with microphones to explain to the viewing audience why the batsman was given not out; helmet cams so that viewers can get the perspective of a batsman receiving a delivery. If you think I'm crazy, these are just two of the innovations proposed by Channel 4 in England for next summer's West Indies tour of the UK aimed at enhancing the 'experience' of the television viewer."

Source :: The Jamaica Gleaner (https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/)