Caribbean Governments Unhappy with CWC Revenue Share

Jamaica’s Finance Minister Omar Davies said that the nine Caribbean countries hosting Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 are not satisfied with the revenue sharing arrangements with the International Cricket Council (ICC), and suggested that the courts could be asked to rule on the issue.

“There is a clear need to examine whether there is any legal recourse,” Davies said in response to questions raised by Opposition MP Clive Mullings (West Central St James) during the meeting of the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) of the House of Representatives, which began reviewing the 2007-2008 estimates of expenditure at Gordon House.

Mr. Mullings referred to a recent press article which suggested that the ICC, organizers of the tournament and world cricket’s governing body, will be making significantly more than $550 million from its deal with ESPN STAR Sports, as its global media and production partner for audio-visual rights for its events, including CWC 2007, between 2007 and 2015.

Jamaica, one of the nine Cricket World Cup host Caribbean countries, spent at least 8 billion Jamaica dollars to prepare the country for the tournament. Of this amount, a combined $60 million was spent on the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium, which hosted warm-up games and the lavish opening ceremony, and on Sabina Park in Kingston where all Group D first-round matches were played.