Muckle LLP Plays Instrumental Role in the Caribbean Twenty 20 Cricket Tournament
We are pleased to announce we are advising the Caribbean Premier League Ltd (CPL), a St Lucia registered company, on all aspects of the Caribbean Twenty 20 Cricket Tournament.
Making cricket happen
Over the past eight months, our Sport’s team in Newcastle upon Tyne has been advising the CPL and has been instrumental in making the 2014 Caribbean Twenty 20 Cricket Tournament happen.
Legal advice and negotiations were led by Partner, John Devine and Associate Solicitor, Stephen Green, who were part of an eight strong Muckle team.
The work required Muckle to advise on all legal aspects of the tournament and the team also helped to secure Kevin Pietersen’s involvement. Pietersen heads the list of international cricket stars who entered the draft, which also includes Chris Gayle, Saeed Ajmal, Corey Anderson, Kevin O’Brien and Matthew Maynard.
High profile tournament
Tony McPhillips, who manages the CPL relationship, said: “We are delighted to be working with the Caribbean Premier League on one of cricket’s highest profile, global tournaments. The influence of the tournament extends beyond the West Indies to North America, India and Australia.”
We advised CPL on participation agreements with each of the six individual franchises across the West Indies, TV production tenders and TV production agreements to ensure maximum revenue and worldwide coverage of the event. We also advised on sponsorship agreements with international organisations including airlines, health care companies, soft drinks manufacturers as well as West Indian Governments and International Tourist Boards. They also provided the CPL with advice on resolving disputes on international contracts including arbitration procedures.
24hr Commercial service
Our Sport’s Team handled numerous players’ and coaches’ contracts providing advice on player drafts, contracts, option agreements, as well as dealing with sponsorship and image rights issues. We also arranged agreements for coaches, assistant coaches, masseurs, physiotherapists, statisticians and trainers as well as providing guidance on anti –bribery and corruption policies.
Tony McPhillips, continued: “The complexity and scale of this project meant that we were often working across different time zones for long periods of time, including weekends, to co-ordinate with those in the West Indies and North America. Through our expertise in this sector, we enabled CPL to adopt a commercial approach to its negotiations and have provided effective advice and support when the CPL needed it.”
The CPL T20, which thrilled sell-out crowds across the Caribbean in 2013, is one of the most high-profile and lucrative cricket tournaments in the world, attracting more than 225 of the world’s top players to its annual draft each year.
CPL says it chose our Sport’s Team because of their reputation, experience and understanding of the requirements of sporting bodies – an understanding gained not just at the highest professional levels but from grassroots level too.
Pete Russell, Chief Operating Officer of the CPL, says of our team: “Thank you so much for all you have done for the CPL. The service we have received is outstanding and my team are just so impressed.”
This is a sentiment echoed by Damien O’Donohoe, CPL’s Chief Executive, who said: ” The Team at Muckle has been excellent and we have received great support.”
The tournament began in Grenada on July 11th and will be televised around the world to more than 200 million people via broadcasters who have signed up, including BT Sport (UK), ESPN 3 (North America) Fox Sports (Australia) and Sony Six (India).
For more information, help or advice on Sports contracts please contact our Sports Team on 0191 211 7777 or email [email protected].