In a shake-up for Caribbean sports broadcasting, telecommunications giant Digicel has announced it will shut down its SportsMax network next month. The decision, confirmed in a letter from Digicel Group Chief Business Officer Liam Donnelly to the Press Association of Jamaica, signals the company’s move away from consumer-facing media to focus on business-critical services like ICT, cyber, and cloud solutions.
SportsMax is set to broadcast for the final time on Friday, August 8, marking the end of 23 years of live coverage. SportsMax, founded in 2002, became a hub for regional and international sports coverage and helped launch the careers of several Caribbean sportscasters.
Alongside SportsMax, Digicel also shut down its Loop News brand with immediate effect.
Describing the move as a “thoughtful change” in strategy, Donnelly explained that Digicel intends to concentrate on areas with “long-term, strong opportunities for innovation, impact and market leadership”.
Trend Media, a Digicel subsidiary, will continue to operate, with a focus on advertising technology and digital media management for brands.
The announcement acknowledged the “real” connection Caribbean audiences feel to SportsMax, which has been known for broadcasting everything from West Indies cricket, the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), CARIFTA Games, and regional athletics meets, to international competitions like the English Premier League, La Liga, UEFA Champions League, NBA, and NFL.
The closure is expected to leave a significant gap in dedicated sports coverage in the region, even as Digicel pledged that fan-favourite content would remain accessible via other sports channels.
The move also comes with job losses. Donnelly’s letter confirmed that affected staff were notified on Tuesday, with Digicel pledging to manage the transition in line with local labour laws and “with the utmost dignity and respect”.
For viewers and sports organisations, the end of SportsMax raises urgent questions about the future of Caribbean sports coverage. Leagues, federations, and event organisers will need to secure new broadcast partners to maintain visibility, while fans will be watching closely to see which networks step up to fill the void.
The closure comes at a particularly delicate moment for regional sport. On Saturday at the Barbados Grand Prix, President of the Athletics Association of Barbados (AAB) Noel Lynch announced plans to launch a Caribbean athletics circuit next year in partnership with Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. The presidents of the Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica athletics bodies have both signalled their support for the idea. Such a series would likely have depended on a pan‑regional broadcaster like SportsMax to deliver live coverage to fans across the Caribbean. Without it, organisers may face challenges finding a comparable platform with equivalent reach and technical production standards.
rohansonnwaithe@barbadostoday.bb
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