Tony Becca, Contributor
ONCE UPON a time cricket was the king of sports in Jamaica, it was the sport of choice for most boys, it was the most popular of all sport, it was the sport that offered most reward, the cricketer was the one most likely to be employed and it was the sport that touched the souls of most Jamaicans.
In those days, not only was Sabina Park packed to capacity for matches involving Jamaica and the West Indies, not only were club matches well attended, but also the game was played in the streets and in almost every open space around the country.
That, however, is not so today.
Although cricket probably remains No. 1 as far as interest is concerned - and certainly so when the West Indies team is action, as far as participation and spectator support are concerned, it is not No. 1 today. Football, spreading like wild fire since the mid-'70s, is undoubtedly No. 1 - and those who doubt it have only to look around them.
If they do that, they will see that where cricket was once played, football is now being played, that where cricket was once strong, football is now strong, that where there were cricket pitches, there are now goalposts, and that while, for example, only a handful of spectators turn up to watch a local cricket match, thousands turn up to watch a football match.
REAL YARDSTICK
The real yardstick, however, is where sponsors put their money, and where as once upon a time sponsors supported cricket and hardly anything else but cricket, today they are supporting football and generously so.
Thanks to a few companies like Grace, Capital and Credit, Scotia Bank, Kingston Wharves and Wilco Sports, local cricket is still getting sponsorship. When it comes to football, however, what they get is only a pittance when compared to what companies like Wray and Nephew and Pepsi are putting into football.
Those who doubt that have only to look around.
If they do, they will see that where as cricket was once blessed, football is now blessed.
The money that goes into schoolboy cricket, for example, is nothing compared to what goes into schoolboy football and, without going into what the national teams get, the money that goes into club cricket pales into insignificance with what goes into club football.
CLUB CRICKET
A look at club cricket will show that this year there was no sponsorship for the National League, that the prizemoney to the champions was $300,000, that the sponsorship for the national limited-over tournament was $2.5 million, that the prizemoney to the winners was $150,000 and that there was no assistance for the clubs in either competition.
In comparison, in the season that gets under way today football will be sponsored by Wray & Nephew to the tune of $20 million with two champion teams collecting $1 million each.
And that is not all. With RJR Communications Group adding to the pot by paying out $8 million for broadcast rights, each of the 12 clubs in the National Premier League will receive $150,000 at the start of the season and a minimum of $125,000 at the end of the season.
On top of that, there is money for the clubs for wearing the sponsors' logo, there is money to assist in travelling, and there are substantial incentives, from $20,000 to $100,000, for individual performances and other team performances.
Cricket, obviously, is a bit jealous, and with their success in regional tournaments in recent years, with so many Jamaicans getting into the West Indies team, it has good reason to be.
Sponsors, however, put their money where it suits them best, and the fact that cricket is finding it difficult to attract sponsorship and football is doing so successfully underlines the strides that football has made over the past 25 years or so.
Without even getting into the fact that once upon a time it was Jamaican cricketers who played in the United Kingdom and not Jamaican footballers, and that today Jamaican footballers are playing in the big leagues and Jamaican cricketers in the small leagues, when one realises, for example, that today some footballers are paid $50,000 and more a month to play local football, football is king.
In fact, when it is also remembered that a cricketer does not even get a cent to play club cricket, not only is cricket no longer king but, except for those who play for the West Indies, cricketers, in comparison to footballers, are now paupers.
