~Viewers can watch the tournament on SONY ESPN, SONY SIX, SONY SIX HD & SonyLIV~

 Press Release: Mumbai: August 3, 2017

Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) that comprises of India’s premier sports channels, has bagged the exclusive broadcasting rights to the highly anticipated Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The league that has a bevy of cricket stars like Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Bravo, will commence on 4th August 2017 and culminate on 9th September 2017. The league will be broadcast live in the Indian sub-continent including countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan Nepal and Maldives, besides India. The network has also acquired the digital rights for the tournament and will live stream the matches in Afghanistan over and above these six countries on its digital platform, SonyLIV.

The tournament will be held across six scenic venues in the Caribbean and for the second time the fixtures will be played in Lauderhill, Florida, USA. This year the teams will include the likes of Jamaica Tallawahs, Trinbago Knight Riders, Tridents – Pride of Barbados, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Lucia Stars and St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, all battling it out in an initial group stage format before progressing to the knock out matches.

The opening match of the league will see St. Lucia Stars take on the Trinbago Knight Riders to be held at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium (named after the St. Lucia Stars captain) on 4th August at 6:30 a.m. only on SONY ESPN.The game that day will see the likes of Brendon McCullum, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson and Daren Sammy himself battle it out at the stadium. The remaining matches will be televised on SONY SIX & SONY SIX HD.

 Comments:

Rajesh Kaul, President, Distribution and Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India:

“At SPN, it is our constant endeavour to showcase the finest cricketing action. The T20 format has always been favoured by cricket enthusiasts and we are thrilled to broadcast the CPL for the fifth successive year. This year, the CPL matches will be broadcast in six different countries and be live streamed on our digital platform, SonyLIV.”

Pete Russell, Chief Operations Officer, CPL:

“We are delighted to continue our broadcast partnership with Sony Pictures Sports Network. Across the Indian subcontinent, there are huge supporters of CPL who have a keen interest in this league.”

About Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN)

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation which owns and operates the Sony Entertainment network of television channels.

SPN comprises 31 channels including Sony Entertainment Television (SET and SET HD), one of India’s leading Hindi general entertainment television channels; MAX, India’s premium Hindi movies and special events channel; MAX 2, another Hindi movie channel showcasing great India Cinema; MAX HD, a high definition Hindi movie channel airing premium quality films; WAH, the FTA channel for Hindi movies; SAB and SAB HD the family-oriented Hindi comedy entertainment channels; PAL, a genre leader in rural Hindi speaking markets (HSM) showcasing the best of Hindi general entertainment and Hindi movies from SPN’s content library; PIX and PIX HD, the English movie channels; LePlex HD showing critically-acclaimed Hollywood films; AXN and AXN HD, the action and adventure-oriented English entertainment channels; Sony BBC Earth and Sony BBC Earth HD, the premium factual entertainment channels, Sony AATH, the Bangla entertainment channel; MIX a refreshing Hindi music channel; ROX HD, a channel for contemporary Hindi music; YAY!, the kids entertainment channel; Sports Network comprising 11 sports entertainment channels – SONY SIX, SONY SIX HD, SONY ESPN, SONY ESPN HD, SONY TEN 1, SONY TEN 1 HD, SONY TEN 2, SONY TEN 2 HD, SONY TEN 3, SONY TEN 3 HD, SONY TEN GOLF HD; SonyLIV – the digital entertainment VOD platform, SPN Productions, the networks’ film production arm and Sony Pictures Networks Distribution Pvt Ltd. (SPND) that distributes the networks television channels across different genres and languages through multiple content delivery platforms. SPN reaches out to over 700 million viewers in India and is available in 167 countries.

The network has been awarded the elite title of ‘Aon Best Employers India’ in the 2017 edition in recognition of SPN’s unique workplace culture and exceptional people practices.

Sony Pictures Networks India is in its 22nd year of operations in India.

About SonyLIV: SonyLIV is the first premium Video on demand (VOD) service by Sony Pictures Networks’ (SPN) providing multi-screen engagement for users on all devices. Launched in January 2013, it enables users to discover 20 years of rich content from the network channels of Sony Pictures Networks’ Pvt. Ltd. It also provides a rich array of movies, strong line-up of events across all sports, shows, music, product reviews.

With over 35 million app downloads so far, SonyLIV is the first amongst its competition to provide original exclusive premium content. As a true pioneer in its space, SonyLIV launched India’s first-ever original show exclusively for the online platform earlier this year. With #LoveBytes, it became the country’s first digital video-on- demand (VOD) platform to introduce an innovation of this nature. SonyLIV also launched YOLO – You Only Live Once, the first-ever regional language web-series on an OTT platform in India and LIV FIT the first-ever health and wellness segment on an OTT platform in the country. In October 2016, SonyLIV also introduced LIV Kids as its premium content especially designed for children.

Streaming the biggest football tournament of 2016 – UEFA European Championship 2016 and making SonyLIV the most preferred online destination for football fans. With 20 million hits from highly engaged urban sports millennials and 90 million interactions.

ABOUT THE HERO CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE: Since its inception in 2013, the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is a franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life – dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival atmosphere. Over 149 million fans watched the 2016 season, combining broadcast and digital viewership, to make it one of the fastest growing leagues in world cricket. Jamaica Tallawahs are the current Hero CPL champions and the other competing teams are Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St. Lucia Stars and Trinbago Knight Riders. The 2017 tournament will run from 4 August – 9 September 2017. For further information visit www.cplt20.com.

For more information, please contact:
 SPN Sports Cluster: Kaumudi Naithani +91 9833931953kaumudi.naithani@setindia.com

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lauderhill, Florida, 3 August 2017

 

The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be broadcast in the United States by Willow TV, the primary cricket broadcaster in the US. This will be the first time that Willow have brought coverage of the Biggest Party in Sport to the US, and cricket fans across the region will be brought coverage of the 34 matches of the tournament, including the four that will take place in Lauderhill, Florida on August 5 & 6.

In addition to the matches live on the Willow television channel on the Internet at www.willow.tv, they will also be partner with the CPL to air four matches live on their Facebook page that will be free to access by fans in the US. These matches will take place on Friday nights throughout the tournament. The matches will be as follows:

• Trinbago Knight Riders v Guyana Amazon Warriors, Friday August 11, 9pm
• St Kitts & Nevis Patriots v Trident – Pride of Barbados, Friday August 18, 9pm
• Jamaica Tallawahs v St Lucia Stars – Friday August 25, 8pm
• Jamaica Tallawahs v Guyana Amazon Warriors, Friday September 1, 8pm

The tournament gets underway on August 4 when the St Lucia Stars take on the Trinbago Knight Riders at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium before the USA leg of Hero CPL 2017 gets underway the next day.

Pete Russell, the Chief Operating Officer of Hero CPL said: “North America is a hugely important part of what the Hero CPL have planned and having a broadcasting partner that is so committed to bring top quality cricket coverage to viewers across the region is hugely important to us. It is great to have Willow on board with us for 2017.”

Vijay Srinivasan, CEO of Willow said: “Willow is proud to add the Hero CPL to our line up of top tier cricket from around the world. With the matches being played in the US and in the Caribbean, the timings are perfect for US television audiences, giving fans a tremendous opportunity to watch live coverage of some of the biggest names in cricket.”

 ABOUT WILLOW TV

Willow, which is part of Times Internet Limited (India’s largest diversified digital group), is one of the fastest growing sports networks in the U.S, and the only channel that is dedicated solely to cricket. The channel and its “TV Everywhere” service are widely distributed by the largest satellite, cable, IPTV and OTT platforms in a variety of subscription packages. The channel also offers a direct-to-consumer digital service at www.willow.tv.

ABOUT THE HERO CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE: Since its inception in 2013, the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is a franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life – dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival atmosphere. Over 149 million fans watched the 2016 season, combining broadcast and digital viewership, to make it one of the fastest growing leagues in world cricket. Jamaica Tallawahs are the current Hero CPL champions and the other competing teams are Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St. Lucia Stars and Trinbago Knight Riders. The 2017 tournament will run from 4 August – 9 September 2017. For further information visit www.cplt20.com.

-End-

For further information please contact:

Peter Miller

Mobile: +447769119636

Caribbean Mobile: + 1 (758) 729 2012

Head of PR and Communications

Hero Caribbean Premier League

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lauderhill, Florida, 3 August 2017

The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be working with ICC Americas, Team USA and Cricket Australia to provide a grassroots cricket clinic on Friday August 4 at the Central Broward Boys and Girls Club between 9.30am and 11.30am.

The clinic will see 200 boys and girls learn cricket skills from some of the best coaches available for working with youngsters who are learning the game. There will be a focus on batting, bowling and fielding skills for these young cricketers to get exposed to the sport in the hope of further developing coaching programmes in the USA.

In addition the Hero CPL will be sending four players from the Jamaica Tallawahs to meet the boys and girls and they will be available to sign autographs and pose for photographs.

The Hero CPL will also be providing tickets for the participants of the clinic and will be providing discounts for their families so that they can come and watch world class cricket when the Hero CPL brings four regular season matches to the Central Broward Regional Park and Stadium in Lauderhill on August 5 and 6.

Tom Evans ICC Americas USA Cricket Manager said: “We feel it is important to carry out suitable market research as we look to develop a National Entry Level Program bespoke to the United States. This clinic will play an important role in obtaining such feedback, from American children who have never played the game, while putting more bats in kids hands which is the ultimate aim of our participation program.”

Damien O’Donohoe, CEO of Hero CPL, said: “We are firmly committed to aiding the development of cricket in the USA and this is just part of what we are doing in working with ICC Americas to achieve that aim.”

ABOUT THE HERO CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE: Since its inception in 2013, the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is a franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life – dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival atmosphere. Over 149 million fans watched the 2016 season, combining broadcast and digital viewership, to make it one of the fastest growing leagues in world cricket. Jamaica Tallawahs are the current Hero CPL champions and the other competing teams are Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St. Lucia Stars and Trinbago Knight Riders. The 2017 tournament will run from 4 August – 9 September 2017. For further information visit www.cplt20.com.

 

-ENDS-

 

For further information please contact:

 

Peter Miller

Mobile: +447769119636

Caribbean Mobile: + 1 (758) 729 2012

Head of PR and Communications

Hero Caribbean Premier League

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lauderhill, Florida, 3 August 2017 

The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) are launching the “Hero CPL PowerPlay” throughout this year’s event. This means that the first three overs of every innings will be broadcast to all Facebook users on the Hero CPL Facebook page.

This groundbreaking initiative is another example of the Hero CPL’s commitment to bringing as much of our cricket to as many fans as possible, and this tantalising taster of what the Biggest Party in Sport has to offer will allow fans in India to see the start of every innings of this year’s tournament for free via Facebook.

Broadcasting the opening three overs of each innings on Facebook has never been done before, and Hero CPL are convinced that this will only heighten interest in the tournament across India and allow passionate cricket fans to enjoy the important opening overs of every innings played during CPL 2017.

Pete Russell, Chief Operating Officer for Hero CPL said: “We are working harder than ever to make our exciting product as accessible as possible to fans around the world. We love breaking new ground at the Hero CPL and this is just the latest example. Throughout this season we will continue to innovate as we look to bring our fans closer to the action, accessing new platforms and producing more content than ever before”

ABOUT THE HERO CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE: Since its inception in 2013, the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is a franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life – dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival atmosphere. Over 149 million fans watched the 2016 season, combining broadcast and digital viewership, to make it one of the fastest growing leagues in world cricket. Jamaica Tallawahs are the current Hero CPL champions and the other competing teams are Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St. Lucia Stars and Trinbago Knight Riders. The 2017 tournament will run from 4 August – 9 September 2017. For further information visit www.cplt20.com.

-End-

For further information please contact:

Peter Miller

Mobile: +447769119636

Caribbean Mobile: + 1 (758) 729 2012

Head of PR and Communications

Hero Caribbean Premier League

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lauderhill, Florida, 3 August 2017

The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be working with ICC Americas, Team USA and Cricket Australia to provide a grassroots cricket clinic on Friday August 4 at the Central Broward Boys and Girls Club between 9.30am and 11.30am.

The clinic will see 200 boys and girls learn cricket skills from some of the best coaches available for working with youngsters who are learning the game. There will be a focus on batting, bowling and fielding skills for these young cricketers to get exposed to the sport in the hope of further developing coaching programmes in the USA.

In addition, the Hero CPL will be sending four players from the Jamaica Tallawahs to meet the boys and girls and they will be available to sign autographs and pose for photographs.

The Hero CPL will also be providing tickets for the participants of the clinic and will be providing discounts for their families so that they can come and watch world class cricket when the Hero CPL brings four regular season matches to the Central Broward Regional Park and Stadium in Lauderhill on August 5 and 6.

Tom Evans ICC Americas USA Cricket Manager said: “We feel it is important to carry out suitable market research as we look to develop a National Entry Level Program bespoke to the United States. This clinic will play an important role in obtaining such feedback, from American children who have never played the game, while putting more bats in kids hands which is the ultimate aim of our participation program.”

Damien O’Donohoe, CEO of Hero CPL, said: “We are firmly committed to aiding the development of cricket in the USA and this is just part of what we are doing in working with ICC Americas to achieve that aim.”

ABOUT THE HERO CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE: Since its inception in 2013, the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is a franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life – dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival atmosphere. Over 149 million fans watched the 2016 season, combining broadcast and digital viewership, to make it one of the fastest growing leagues in world cricket. Jamaica Tallawahs are the current Hero CPL champions and the other competing teams are Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St. Lucia Stars and Trinbago Knight Riders. The 2017 tournament will run from 4 August – 9 September 2017. For further information visit www.cplt20.com.

-End-

For further information please contact:

Peter Miller

Mobile: +447769119636

Caribbean Mobile: + 1 (758) 729 2012

Head of PR and Communications

Hero Caribbean Premier League

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gros Islet, St Lucia, 29 July 2017

The St Lucia Stars had the most successfully season last year, and much of that was as a result of Johnson Charles’s impressive season with the bat.

“2016 was a big year and 2017 is definitely going to have more hype and I am looking forward to doing my thing. I am definitely excited and you know the excitement is immeasurable.” Johnson said as we count down the days to the opening match at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground,” Charles said.

When asked about what is required for the Stars to go all the way this year Charles was confident.

“All we have to do now is maintain and improve on our performances. It is going to take a lot of work because all teams are coming after us. It is a hard competition. So, we just have to maintain and give our all.”

Charles is full of belief in his team and his own abilities.

“Last year I was number two in the run scoring charts. So, this year I am just looking to start at number two and get up there to number one. It will take a lot of hard work because every batsman is coming out there to perform and get the most runs.”

Speaking about the development Hero CPL and the changes players faced in the opening years, Charles said: “When we started in the first year you could have seen that guys were not really into T20 and did not really know much about the game, but as it progressed you could see everybody getting a lot better in their games and game planning.

“Hero CPL has pushed my T20 career forward in that it has exposed me to more of the world stage and it has definitely marketed my name. It has helped me a lot and I am hoping to use this as far as possible.”

ABOUT THE HERO CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE: Since its inception in 2013, the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is a franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life – dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival atmosphere. Over 149 million fans watched the 2016 season, combining broadcast and digital viewership, to make it one of the fastest growing leagues in world cricket. Jamaica Tallawahs are the current Hero CPL champions and the other competing teams are Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St. Lucia Stars and Trinbago Knight Riders. The 2017 tournament will run from 4 August – 9 September 2017. For further information visit www.cplt20.com.

 

-ENDS-

 

For further information please contact:

 

Peter Miller

Mobile: +447769119636

Caribbean Mobile: + 1 (758) 729 2012

Head of PR and Communications

Hero Caribbean Premier League

Sakima “Mister Smooth” Mullings battered Canadian challenger Phil “The Assassin” Rose into submission to win the Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum Contender Boxing Series Junior Middleweight Contender title by technical knockout at the Mico University College Grounds on Wednesday night.

The history-making result came at one minute and eight seconds of the sixth round in the 10-round contest that produced the first double champion of the Contender Series.

The display by Mullings in his title bid was a masterful exhibition of tact, guile and a smooth, but telling execution of heavy body punches.

“It was my defence that cost me the fight more than anything else. I failed to defend with great care and because of that anomaly, he (Mullings) caught me with a number of effective punches. From then onward, it was downhill,” admitted the vanquished Rose.

It was one of the best displays in the ring by Mullings on local soil and he was probably incensed by the opposing camp who promised a knockout of the Jamaican.

Mullings dismissed the promise of Rose a knockout “as unfounded and far-fetched” as blessed “with a solid chin”.

With victory uppermost in his mind, Mullings began with some probing and speculative right-hand teasers to the body as he danced in and out to avoid the big swings of Rose. By midway the round, however, Mullings had begun to force his opponent into fighting his fight.

From then on, Mullings had taken full control of proceedings and Rose’s attempt to knock Mullings out with his big swings only met with frustration as the dapper Mullings danced and shifted as he eased into a comfortable lead after three rounds.

The fourth round Rose came into his own as he began to find his range. Somewhere between rounds four and five Mullings was seen shaking off a flush right that landed on the button.

This made Mullings stand and take notice, and from here on, he went to work with some big shots of his own that had Rose reeling in the fifth round. And as Mullings moved in for the kill, the bell came to Rose’s rescue.

With the scent of blood, Mullings moved in swiftly to finish off his opponent and had him reeling on the ropes twice before the American World International Boxing Hall of Fame Referee, Steve Smoger, stepped in to stop the carnage at 1:08 minutes of the sixth round.

“We used angles to get the upper hand of our opponent. He is bigger, stronger, but slow of feet. So we used angles to keep him moving and to create space. Keep him moving will slow him down and we will then have everything to ourselves,” Mullings said.

Mullings, for his efforts, walked away with $2 million and the Contender championship belt.

Earlier, former Contender champion Kemahl “The Hitman” Russell flattened his Trinidad and Tobago opponent Nigel Edwards in 1:14 minutes of the first round to win the Super Middleweight undercard over eight rounds. Dr Andre McDonald and his SureTime team had to be called in to revive Edwards who fell flat on his face after he had been knocked cold off his feet.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/mullings-wins-contender-title-in-style-stops-rose-in-sixth-round_106148?profile=1511