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BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS – In a move that has left sports fans and tourism stakeholders reeling, the St. Kitts Tourism Authority has been replaced by the Grenada Investment Development Corporation as the marquee sponsor of the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots CPL franchise — a blunder many are calling one of the most embarrassing sponsorship failures in recent memory.

The finger-pointing has landed squarely on the PM Terrance Drew administration, with particular scrutiny on Minister of Tourism Hon. Marsha Henderson and Minister of Sports Hon. Samal Duggins. Henderson is currently presiding over a tourism authority that has been operating without an active Board of Directors, while Duggins’ own wife — who served as Tourism Authority Board Chair — saw her two-year term expire earlier this year without renewal.

From “Proud Patriots” to “Promoting Grenada”

No official explanation has been offered by Henderson, Duggins, or the Tourism Authority for why St. Kitts failed to renew its sponsorship — a silence that paved the way for Grenada’s investment agency (the equivalent of SKIPA) to swoop in and grab the high-profile deal.

The result? When the SKN Patriots take the field this CPL season, their jerseys will be emblazoned not with “St. Kitts & Nevis,” but with “Grenada” — a marketing coup for the Spice Isle and a gut punch to Kittitian-Nevisian national pride.

Former Minister of Sports: “A Total Failure to Support Our Own”

A former Minister of Sports minced no words:

“Once again this Labour Party administration has failed to support its own. For the first time, the St. Kitts Tourism Authority has failed to support the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, leaving the opportunity for Grenada’s Investment Development Corporation to swoop in.

Imagine — the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots jersey for 2025 says Grenada but not St. Kitts & Nevis! Does our Tourism Authority not understand the exposure we get through that sponsorship? Have they no national pride in seeing our name on our team’s jersey?

As we are in the final year of the franchise agreement with the Patriots, I hope this is not a precursor to losing our CPL team next year. That would mean fewer jobs and less money for our people.”

Bigger Questions Linger

The sponsorship fiasco has now raised a series of uncomfortable questions for the Drew administration:

1. Government Protection Against Ambush Marketing – Should the SKN Government’s investment in keeping the Patriots based in St. Kitts include protections against competing nations using the team for their tourism campaigns?
2. Franchise Tenure in St. Kitts – Is there a secure, contractual period ensuring the Patriots remain in St. Kitts beyond 2025?
3. Government Investment & CPL Contributions – How much taxpayer money has been invested in CPL to date, and what major community projects has CPL delivered in return?
4. Local Representation – Why isn’t there greater inclusion of local talent in the team’s management and executive structure?

For now, fans will have to swallow the bitter reality that in the year St. Kitts celebrates hosting the CPL, their home team will be walking billboards for another Caribbean nation — all because their own leaders failed to keep their eyes on the ball.

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