Webb presses on with goal of Caribbean league

CONCACAF President Jeff Webb

(CNS): The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) President Jeffrey Webb has been pressing ahead with plans for a regional league to help develop Caribbean football. At a recent meeting officials discussed the initial Caribbean Professional League viability report on the positives and negatives of potential competition formats and their correlated financial models.

“This meeting signifies another step that CONCACAF has taken to evaluate the viability of a Caribbean league,” said Webb. “We would all agree that to continue with the advancement of football in the Caribbean region we must improve the foundation of the sport and develop necessary infrastructures and talents.”

The report was undertaken by Rethink Management Group, a renowned consultancy firm focused on advising football entities internationally. The task force created to examine the possibility of pressing ahead with a league has also produced a detailed report of stadium infrastructure in the region that could host and participate in a Premier League based on their existing facilities.The study consisted of visits to four countries and nine stadiums and has recommended additional visits to other markets with 5,000-plus capacity venues.

“The excellent work that the Task Force has already done provided a very good basis for our discussions,” said Chief Executive of the Premier League, Richard Scudamore who is advising CONCACAF on the way forward. “The Premier League is honoured to be involved and will assist in any way it can to bring this initiative of President Webb and his colleagues to reality.”

The Caribbean Premier League Task Force has commissioned additional studies, including one focused on an in-depth analysis of the Caribbean sports market, specifically on existing sporting events from a ticket sales, sponsorship and TV broadcast metrics.