As the West Indies took to the field in Guyana yesterday (Thursday) for the start of the second Test against South Africa, they did so with unbranded shirts: a microcosm of cricket’s challenges in the Caribbean.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) is at something of a commercial standstill. There’s no principal sponsor for the national teams nor a sponsor for home Test and Twenty20 Internationals series. The ‘Windies’ have also struggled to find linear television deals in the Caribbean, with no long-term deal in place.
It’s quite the in-tray for the next chief executive and commercial director of CWI, following CEO Johnny Grave’s announcement this week that he would be leaving the organisation after seven years.
Grave will officially depart in October, likely before the appointment of his successor but after the hiring of a new commercial director. Dominic Warne had held that role since 2017 but moved on in January to become commercial head for the ICC T20 World Cup, held in the Caribbean and the US this June and July.
SportBusiness understands that Warne’s successor is expected to be announced in the next few weeks, once approved by the CWI board.
Under Grave’s seven-year tenure, CWI has restructured its finance department, moved to a four-year budgeting cycle that better meets the FTP schedule (up from two) and completed a financial turnaround.
In 2018, the organisation had a deficit of $22m (€20m). In its most-recent financials, posted in March for the year-ending September 30, 2023, a surplus of $12m was recorded. Revenues came in at $62.3m while net income was $14.3m.
While there is work to be done on the commercial side, as one source told SportBusiness: “CWI is no longer desperate to do deals for cashflow.”
The calendar has helped, with two tours from each of India and England over the last three years and the Cricket World Cup, meaning CWI will likely close out 2024 “with a war chest of cash”.
That will, understandably, dwindle over the next few years based on the commercial draw of the touring countries – one source said the cash reserves will likely drop to around $10m by 2026 – but will then be boosted again when India and England come to visit.
Sponsors wanted
For cricket purists, the sight of the West Indies players without a corporate brand splashed across the front of their whites was a welcome one. Less so for the commercial department.
SportBusiness has learned CWI is in the market for a title sponsor for both Test and T20 series, as well as a principal partner to fill that front-of-shirt vacancy. They are considered priorities for the new commercial director but again, given the nature of the calendar, there is little reason to rush a deal.
Internally CWI believes a three-year cycle that starts with a tour of Australia in June 2025 and includes a visit to India in late 2026 is an appealing prospect for a major corporate brand to be associated with.
A back-of-shirt sponsor does exist in the shape of betting firm Dafabet, while CG United is the sleeve sponsor under a wider agreement that gives the regional insurance company title sponsorship rights to home ODI series.
The West Indies did have a main shirt sponsor for the recent three Test match series in England (pictured below), albeit that was a short-term deal with existing partner, the global financial services provider Apex Global.
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