Jamaica Tallawahs to get renamed under new owner

Caribbean domestic franchise Jamaica Tallawahs may soon rename themselves to Fort Lauderdale Tallawahs, with new owner businessman Kris Persaud keen to move base to Florida. Worldwide Sports Management Group (WSMG), owned by Florida-based businessman Kris Persaud, purchased the Tallawahs in July. He took over the franchise reins from former owners Ron Parikh and Manish Patel, two Indian immigrants based out of Texas who were content to keep the team in Jamaica.

Persaud, earlier this week declared his intentions to hopefully shift the team operations from Jamaica to Lauderhill where the team would call the Central Broward Regional Park their new home. It would make them the first USA-based cricket franchise in any of the major T20 franchise leagues. Earlier in the year, WSMG also signed an agreement with the Central Broward Regional Park for exclusive rights for staging international cricket with a guarantee of three international events per year.

However, according to ESPN Cricinfo, a spokesperson for the Caribbean Premier League played down Persaud’s statements saying, “While the CPL has been open about pursuing opportunities to expand the number of franchises in the future with the possibility of a new franchise based in the USA, the CPL remains committed to keeping our original six franchises at home in the West Indies.”

CPL will have to pay $1.5 million penalty if the deal goes through

The proposed move for the franchise away from Jamaica is odd for several reasons, first and foremost to do with the fees. According to reports, ownership groups looking to purchase one of the six existing franchises were informed it required them to pay a yearly franchise fee of $2.5 million to the CPL but that $2 million is subsidized by a “support payment” from the CPL, in effect making the annual franchise fee $500,000.

The report also revealed that if a new owner taking over the franchise was to move the team to the USA or Canada, the CPL would essentially face a $1.5 million penalty.