The Caribbean Premier League’s 14th season brings back a piece of its history that fans have missed for seven years, alongside an expanded field and a stacked late-summer schedule.
## Key Dates
CPL 2026 runs from August 7 to September 20, with the final scheduled for Barbados. It is one of the longer windows in the tournament’s history, giving the expanded field room to complete a full round-robin plus playoffs.
## Jamaica Is Back
After a seven-year absence, Jamaica returns to the CPL with a new franchise, Jamaica Kingsmen, expanding the tournament to seven teams for the first time. They join Trinbago Knight Riders, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Barbados Royals, Saint Lucia Kings, Antigua and Barbuda Falcons, and St Kitts & Nevis Patriots.
## Defending Champions
Trinbago Knight Riders enter as defending champions after winning their fifth CPL title in 2025, beating Guyana Amazon Warriors in the final. Kieron Pollard was named player of the series in that campaign, continuing a franchise legacy that makes TKR the most successful team in tournament history.
## Tournament Format
The 2026 edition features 39 matches across a round-robin group stage followed by playoffs, spread across venues in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
## Recent CPL Champions
– **2025:** Trinbago Knight Riders (5th title)
– **2024:** Saint Lucia Kings (1st title)
– **2023:** Guyana Amazon Warriors (1st title)
– **2022:** Jamaica Tallawahs (3rd title)
The spread of champions across recent seasons — four different winners in four years before Trinbago’s repeat — reflects a competitive balance that has become one of the CPL’s selling points compared to more top-heavy domestic leagues.
## Where CPL Fits Globally
The August-September window puts CPL in direct competition for player availability with [The Hundred](/the-hundred-tournament-guide), which runs through mid-August, and just ahead of the international calendar picking back up with series like [Australia’s tour of South Africa](/south-africa-cricket-fixtures). For franchise cricket followers building out their late-summer viewing schedule, CPL typically offers the most consistently high-scoring cricket of the T20 calendar, thanks to small grounds and flat Caribbean pitches.
Full fixtures, including the expanded seven-team schedule, were confirmed in the spring, with matches running deep into September to accommodate the larger field.