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Windies Cricket Chief EXPLAINS Why T20 Word Cup 2024 Schedule Has Been Made In Accordance To Indian Prime Time

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5 months ago

June 5, 2024

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Windies Cricket Chief EXPLAINS Why T20 Word Cup 2024 Schedule Has Been Made In Accordance To Indian Prime Time

Updated Jun 5, 2024, 16:11 IST

Johnny Grave, CEO of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), discusses the obstacles and benefits of co-hosting the T20 World Cup 2024 with the USA. He acknowledged that the scheduling was aligned with the Indian Standard Time (IST) to accommodate the greater revenue potential from India, a powerhouse in the subcontinental region.

(L) West Indies Cricket Board CEO Johnny Grave, (R) Indian cricket fans.

The 9th edition of the T20 World Cup 2024 is underway in the USA/West Indies and West Indies cricket Chief, Johnny Grave has admitted that the schedule of the big-ticket event has been planned in accordance to the Indian prime time. He has a very straight answer when it comes to the actual reason as most of the revenues of all the ICC tournaments available comes from the sub-continent nation of India.

”I think everyone accepts that the vast majority of revenues for all ICC events comes from one market. Therefore it is really important that we find a balance between starting matches at prime time in India and for home fans. We have half the matches early for Star Sports and then we have gone as late as possible so they will start early in the morning in India, so they should still get a decent viewership”, Grave said in an interaction with The Indian Express.

As the co-host, he told that they are focusing on bringing the school students to the 10:30 am morning games and the local fans attending the evening ones.

”We as hosts can focus on the local fans attending the evening games and the 10:30 morning games will allow us to get school kids to watch some World Cup cricket for free”, he added.

He also talked about countries like India, England and Australia hosting more international tournaments compared to South Africa and the West Indies. He told that the money was retained by the big teams like India, England and Australia when they were hosting the tournament due to the huge economic advantage along with the money they receive from the tournament broadcasters. While the hosts in USA/West Indies for the T20 World Cup and South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia for the next ODI World Cup, the money generated by the hosting boards will be distributed among a significantly larger number of participants compared to the previous eight-year period cycle.

”What that means is that the money generated by host boards is going to be shared by far more members than in the previous eight-year cycle. The money used to be retained by the biggest three who already have a huge economic advantage from their domestic markets with the money they receive from their host broadcasters”, he said.