 We're still talking football, top flight football in the land of Wood-of-water that's Jamaica returning this Sunday with a Reign-Nephew-Jamaica Premier League for the second consecutive season. The league will have 14 teams including defending champions, Mount Pleasant, Fellowsend and Team Limehall along with Treasure Beach from St. Elizabeth are the two newly promoted teams. Round one matchups, let's have a look at them now, Limehall Academy against Montego Bay United that will be live on Sportsmax, Treasure Beach against Humberland, Tivoli Gardens against Waterhouse, Mount Pleasant tackling Port Mora that's the reigning champions against the seven time champions that's live on Sportsmax and on Sportsmax two very united against Mullines, Arnett Garns will tackle Dumbledore Holden on Sportsmax two as well. Round one matches coming up in the Reign-Nephew-Jamaica Premier League starting this weekend. CEO of professional football, Jamaica Limited, Owen Hill is with us in studio to talk more about the upcoming season, well we did have the launch and we saw the presentations from yourself and other executives, we are on the eve now of the tournament kicking off, how excited are you? Well first let me say thanks for having me, I think I'm a little bit anxious, nervous, I feel like I'm playing actually. Well you have played it, you have played it in the past, when was it, 2015 for UWI? Yeah for UWI but normally just a little bit, always before the kick off generally you have these jitters but once you go live then all of that goes all the way, literally we're in the final stages of preparation ensuring that all the teams are you know set accommodated essentially and you know looking at what is to come, we've been having those discussions from an activation perspective with our major partners, the new title partners, we'll be moving into Draxall pretty much starting tomorrow, setting up, ensuring that you know all things are on the ground and doing what is right and the necessary PR and you know information is out there to ensure that the viewing public and the people who are willing to come to the game which we are saying you should, they're in for a treat, I think it's going to be a fantastic opening weekend. Alright about the season itself now and the fact that a lot of the games will be going back to the communities and the home teams now having an opportunity in their own space to welcome big crowds and so on which that format had been moved away from the COVID-19 2020 season with more centralized locations, how embracing is this for the home teams now that a lot of them will have the opportunity to be hosting matches in their own space? I think they're excited I mean from last season you saw that we were transitioning into the community, let us not be you know crazy about this but football is the community, most of the teams are community related teams you know they're nestled in communities so bringing back the sport to the actual facilities that they have in their community I think it does them a world of good and you know what helps is that you know some of these community venues are actually very good venues you know so when you look at the teams that are going to be participating in the competition and where they'll be playing their home games I think it all goes well for community development, for club development and by extension just the general vibe and atmosphere that you'd want from any football game. Yes speaking about development I instantly thought about the newly promoted teams Treasure Beach and Lime Hall what are you expecting from these two teams for this new season? Well let me put on my analyst hat no. Yes please. From a Treasure Beach perspective I think they're very solid structurally they've got the right pieces and they went shopping I mean I recently spoke to their coach Amirot Wedderburn he's no stranger to you know top flight football and you know having this kind of pressure being put on him but I mean he's quite comfortable he's ready there's an infusion of you know players who would have played in the league and then you knew one young talent that he would have had through the St. Elizabeth technical program so I think that's a good merger and the fact that you know Treasure Beach is from St. Elizabeth on that southern belt probably you know the only team that spans across Manchester, St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland I think it gives them a nice mix of players and it all goes well for their program for Lime Hall and the other hand they I believe have benefited from some of the spillovers from Mount Pleasant you know so yeah I think we you know have neighbors their neighbors so I mean they're good neighbors by the way they share you know a lot of resources so the pitch itself they're gonna be using Draxall and they have a good you know nice mix of players some of the players who would have helped them qualify they're still there but they've refreshed the team, rejuvenated what is considered the squad expected to compete and I'm looking forward to what they have to offer in the league because I feel like you know these two teams if they hold their own which I think they will they'll cause some damage. Yeah and your response to Lance just now about the preparations you spoke about activations and for me whenever I see Ray and nephew anyway it's a party and it's a big deal because they come out really really big right what what is in store for us because I already planned to attend some of these JPL matches although I will not be on the broadcast right so what will Ray and nephew have for me? Well I can tell you Ray and nephew is excited about being this you know title partner they are becoming to the party literally bringing the party to the game I can tell you I mean all the excitement that you expect in a general entertainment space they'll be bringing it to football because football is entertainment so you'll have those deals at the venues but prior to you'll have community activation so they'll be hitting up you know the bars and the local spots and ensuring that if you purchase they'll have bucket deals they'll have ticket deals and then at the game you'll have you know prizes and surprises they'll ensure that the fans are engaged from minute one or probably before the game start until after the game and I think with their product it only helps to enhance it it enhances the vibe that you will have at these games and I think you know the patrons are in for a treat but we're always saying that it's a family oriented event so you know drink responsibly and we're always pushing that yeah looking forward yeah so happy to hear all of that right so I have said this a number of times on the show that I am not the biggest fan of the format okay just because I think the team that is most consistent over six or seven months should be rewarded but I understand okay why it is the way it is and clearly based on how the season ended last year it worked because the playoffs have been massively successful the turnout for the championship match Cavalier and Mon Pleasant fantastic cannot forget that how do we build on how we ended last season and take that through an entire campaign and not just when we get to the playoffs of this tournament competition because I think it showed last year that there is tremendous value in the Jamaica Premier League I again I have to piggyback on what you're saying because the truth is it depends on where you sit philosophically yes if you're looking for a league format seven eight months longer to football race to the top who is at the top wins the entire thing that there's merit to that argument however because of the nuances in the Jamaican space and the partners that we have on board we want to give them maximum value so what we've done is you know pretty much looked at the best practices globally and you know decided that hey we want you to continuously play good football throughout the season you will be getting some kind of reward incentive wise at the end of the regular rounds but then the cherry on the top is winning the Premier League truth be told I mean the bigger cherry is actually qualifying for these conquer cap games so when you look at what Cavalier and Harbourview is no doing in the Caribbean Cup and how they've advanced they're in the semifinal playing against each other when you look at how they've revamped that structure when you get to the top you're really just looking around to say how can we maximize yes we want to you know add more value to it so that you can have a bigger prize purse at the end of it etc but we want to also keep the fans engaged and we know that in Jamaica we like that short snap you know yeah in-movement kind of vibe and it will allow for good football because again you get amped up when you know that hey this is a do or die situation yeah just on a point of clarity did Arnett Gardens get rewarded for their regular season title last year and what was the nature of the reward so so they didn't get a cash incentive or they didn't get a trophy reward yes but going forward this is a part of the arrangement because I remember Teghurt Davis complaining as a coach last year that they were regular season champions top the league format and there wasn't anything for them correct and and the truth is then they knew this from before you know so let me ask you what will be in it this season for the team that wins the regular season so we've not decided as yet you know totally of course you know a trophy is definitely there but again you know a team probably wants to get more than just a trophy so we're looking at different ways permutation how it can work probably could get some qualifiers from the you know the two teams that are most consistent depending on the nature of these things but you know the process you have to go through submit what you think is the approach the rational fight and then there's justification for it going forward but again we are mindful that we need to incentivize people who do well yes you know we don't want you to finish six for argument sake and then you just soup the league and then that's it you know but that's a good scenario story for anybody yes so it makes for good kind of television I think yes and I think the teams are really hungry for that in terms of the influx of overseas players it's not new to see players from the rest of the Caribbean playing in the Jamaica Premier League but looking at what I'm seeing now maybe we have more non-Jamaicans who will be playing in the league than we've ever had before how much will that bring to the JPL you think so let me let me answer your question by saying I think sportsmax benefits heavily from that well thank you yes I think but I think we helped you get those for sure of course you're your preferred partner we love you but what I'm saying is when you have because the games are being broadcasted in over 26 Caribbean territories both you know locally and then you know it's in the tri-state area and in Canada and all these places you have more eyes on the product I mean I give you a basic well not a basic but I give you a very strong example of Trivante Stewart his last game was in the Premier League local Premier League and his next professional game was in Italy yeah and we're told no scouts came here to see him pretty much no scouts and and what enhances that is being able to watch broadcasted games being able to analyze these games virtually and then you can make a decision on a place so to really answer the question is yes we'll have more eyes on the product because you have more Caribbean players coming in but then hands down we have the best league in the Caribbean and it is proven there's a ranking by Conkercraft that speaks to where the leagues rank across the Caribbean Jamaica is the number one league in the Caribbean and everybody's looking at the league and saying yes this is a good launching pad it helps to catapult my career and the quality of the players really really strong so I mean you can argue against that yeah I also want to make the point because quite often when we speak about the views for Sportsmax and we speak about the rest of the Caribbean and Canada tri-state areas of course I don't think we realize how many eyes we actually have in the UK there you go and I think we underestimate that and through the Sportsmax app and an event like the Jamaica Premier League where it is not geoblocked and anyone right across the world can watch we get a number of views coming out of the UK so that's a big deal there as well and just to kind of you know augment what you're saying we at the JPL ensures that the players understand that you know you're not just playing in front of you know 1500 people when you get up you know every Sunday or Monday this is a global event that you have access to or people have access to you globally so every time you suit up every time the cameras are on you are playing for not just yourself but the opportunity to expand the league and people looking at players so I think it's very very important for us to underscore that point that the league has grown significantly we're building an industry and there are many different elements of our football industry broadcast is one you know apparel is another ensuring that people come to the game is another you know watching it on television is another so there are so many elements that we're looking to build out and we're saying if you don't support local sports through the different avenues then chances are we're going to always be looking internationally and asking why can't we be like that yeah I'm not sure you can answer this yet but I'm going to put it out there just the same he laughs so you speak about building an industry right and clearly the Jamaica Premier League has gotten more support locally in recent years but with the influx of more overseas players and eyes all over the world on the Jamaica Premier League when do we start to engage strategically engage overseas partners and by partners you mean we I could use sponsors okay I mean we have global sponsors so for example MasterCard is one of our global partners that you know we have tagged to Montego be United Montego be United has recently changed hands the button has been passed to you know an international partner for want of a better word because even though he's locally or they're locally orchestrating their businesses they have global reach so you know the opportunities are there we keep having those kinds of discussions but we have to keep building the brand value so that people can see you know and I think we've done that for the last three four years we've moved from a situation where games were all centralized and you know locked up in one space we got good enough coverage for that and then as we dive deeper back into the communities you know we're expanding the overall product and you know we are saying sustainably expanding because it's easy for us to just you know me and all the necessary advice is that come but if you want to build a product if you want the clubs to be better we have to take this approach and I think that's that's working for us right now yeah yeah and quickly before we go because I gather we're running out of time is everybody happy with the 14 team league everybody if everybody is happy with the 14 team league different stakeholders are you know sitting on different sides of the fence what I can say from a PFJL perspective is that we are very clear less is better because you want to sustainably host you know quality football games so we know the situation if it is that we had you know 14 more placements in the league then fine you know it would be fine but the truth is we have some clubs that are you know lower on the learning curve than others and we're saying we're trying to build that industry so as it is now we we have to work with the 14 yeah and we keep building what's the ideal number for the PFJL ideal number you're putting me on a spot though you're a goalkeeper you're a good at saving no he's a central defender I I would say you know the ideal numbers dependent on the quality of the teams that are in it so there's really no magic number to be very honest and I'm being very honest there's not a magic number we're not pulling anything out the hat if we have 14 solid clubs that can be says self-sustainable then we're fine we're good at that but as it is now we don't have that so we're not saying to cap it at 10 or 12 yeah we are saying let us expand sensibly because we're building a football industry yeah I think the fact is Chappellton Maroons and Falkland the 13th and 14th teams from last season yeah weren't up to mark but they got relegated so hopefully Treasure Beach and Lime Hall which is why I was happy to hear you say for example that Treasure Beach has a good system and structure both of them have a good real you know system and structure and I look forward to what they offer I know it's a long league yeah it gets a while you know but we're looking forward to what they have they're playing the music lands yeah we've got to go let's see the non-jamaicans and how they perform Melbourne Dockson has played three seasons in football in Jamaica he's from St. Lucia he's already won two titles one with Cavalier and one with Mount Pleasant so I get that story in itself is a story that will invite a lot of other Caribbean players to be in the Jamaica Premier League and don't forget there's a JPL action coming up on Sportsmax this weekend Sportsmax and Sportsmax too back with more after this