Four years ago, when officials in Grand Prairie, Texas, were pitched the idea of converting the city's underutilized minor league ballpark into a stadium for cricket, city manager Bill Hills came across a copy of “Cricket for Dummies.”
Like most Americans, Mr Hills was ignorant of cricket, However, this is now beginning to change.
Last year, the 7,200-seat stadium in Grand Prairie became the new home of the Texas Super Kings, one of six teams playing in the inaugural season of Major League Cricket. And last week, the stadium hosted the US national team's biggest victory to date, Pakistan suffers a crushing defeat The men's T20 World Cup, which this year is being jointly hosted by the United States and several Caribbean nations, ends on June 29.
A few days later, over 34,000 cricket fans India beat Pakistan by a narrow margin In a temporary stadium built on Long Island. When Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics, Cricket will be one of the new sports,
Cricket, the world's second most popular sport, is maintaining its hold in America and investors are showing interest in it. Looking to make money There is a growing viewership of the sport, particularly among the cricket-loving South Asian diaspora. This includes supporters of Major League Cricket franchises that plan to build dedicated cricket stadiums in their cities. The San Francisco Unicorns, Los Angeles Knight Riders and Seattle Orcs (part-owned by Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella) are negotiating leases and approvals to build new stadiums, which are expected to open in the next few years.
Mr. Hills said Major League Cricket games in Grand Prairie last season “definitely exceeded our expectations.” During the two-week season and postseason, about 50,000 people attended a dozen matches in Grand Prairie, and the playoffs from July 27 to July 30 generated $1.7 million in economic activity, including retail, entertainment, car rentals, hotels and dining. The league's next season begins in July, with Grand Prairie hosting 16 matches. Mr. Hills expects 85,000 fans to come to the games.
Mr. Hills said, “Who would have thought a city like Grande Prairie would host international sporting events” that would be watched by millions of people around the world.
“This makes Grand Prairie a destination, not just a small town between Dallas and Fort Worth,” he said.
Major League Cricket's priorities include building 7,000 to 10,000-seat stadiums near vibrant areas, which could later be transformed into entertainment districts. The league's vice president of corporate development and infrastructure, Will Swann, said the stadiums would be used as playgrounds to foster young talent and increase appreciation for the game.
David Demarest, who leads the sports and entertainment development group at real estate brokerage JLL, said cricket stadiums “present a great opportunity to attract people.”
“These are features that you can program beyond just cricket games,” he said.
The Seattle Orcas plan to build a stadium at Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington, near an affluent downtown shaped by the Microsoft campus and the city of Bellevue. The Los Angeles Knight Riders have sought a site at Great Park in Irvine, California, an affluent part of Orange County. The San Francisco Unicorns have proposed building a stadium at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, a redeveloped site near Silicon Valley, and have teamed up on the plan with Devcon, the firm behind the San Francisco 49ers stadium.
The proposed site for the San Francisco team offers growth potential and demographic attractiveness. Team general manager David White said studies conducted by the team indicate that a wealthy community of about 250,000 people originally from India or other places in South Asia live in the Greater Bay Area. The Santa Clara site is expected to attract several sports venues, including a Major League Soccer stadium, to become a hub for sports and entertainment.
Justin Gayle, tournament director of Major League Cricket, said these developments should be made keeping in mind fans in South Asia and other regions where cricket is popular.
“We will have samosas and hot dogs,” he said. “We can bring together the best aspects of American sports and cricket and blend them together.”
There are cricket-focused developments outside the league, too: In Oswego, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago, entrepreneur Paresh Patel received approval to develop Brabourne Stadium, which will include a 25,000-seat venue as well as a 120-room hotel, restaurants and a luxurious clubhouse for special events. The stadium, scheduled to open this summer, will have a larger seating capacity than the United Center, home of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks.
Baseball evolved CricketWhere two teams face off on a large, circular pitch and – to make it very simple – take turns batting and bowling in the hopes of scoring the most runs. A popular American pastimeCricket was overtaken by baseball in the late 19th century. At its peak, thousands of cricket clubs operated across the country, participating in games described in the New York Times. A dispatch from 1853 As a “manly and athletic sport”.
For purists the highest form of the game is the so-called Test Matcheswhich can last up to five days. But a newer, more action-packed game format, Twenty20, is becoming increasingly popular. These games can be played in three hours, appealing to broadcasters and modern attention spans. The Indian Premier League, which One of the world's most valuable sports assetsuses this format, as does Major League Cricket in the United States. (Several teams in the American league share owners with Indian franchises.)
Major League Cricket is often compared to Major League Soccer, the US league that began nearly 30 years ago and now has several custom soccer stadiums amid mixed-use urban developments with enough charm to attract global stars. The relatively short Major League Cricket season runs between the schedules of other global cricket leagues, giving many of the game's top players, including Australian stars Steve Smith, Pat Cummins and Glenn Maxwell, a chance to play in the US league. Think of it as if David Beckham and Lionel Messi played in the inaugural season of Major League Soccer, not long after the league was founded.
Still, cricket in the United States is still a long way from gaining the popularity and investment needed to build large stadiums such as Lord's Cricket Ground in London, Eden Gardens in India, or the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia.
“The only reason cricket is not played at the highest level of competition is that there is no infrastructure in this country,” said Vijay Srinivasan, a Bay Area entrepreneur who founded Willow, a pay TV channel for cricket matches that has grown from a small streaming site to a cable channel that reaches four million American homes.