Can Major League Cricket Hit It Out Of The Ballpark In America?

Major League Cricket has arrived in Texas. The big question is whether the sport can catch on in the land of opportunity. Once upon a time in America, cricket was the national game. It was also the location of the sport’s very first international match. That may sound like a Ripley’s Believe it or Not! fact, but ‘New York, New York’ is where it all started.

The USA and Canada played that historic game in front of 10,000 spectators at NYC’s Bloomingdale Park in 1844. It may be some time before cricket crowds are packed to the rafters in America again. This is not the MLB. Or Frank Sinatra.

The Grand Prairie Stadium, a converted baseball venue, hosts the opening match of the MLC between the Texas Super Kings and the Los Angeles Knight Riders in front of a capacity 7,200 crowd on Thursday. The 19-match tournament runs to the end of July and will also use North Carolina’s Church Street Park with a capacity currently at 3,500.

The faster-paced T20 games have been turned into popular franchises in Pakistan, Australia, the Caribbean and England. The big shot of them all, the Indian Premier League, recently become the most-watched digital sports event globally. The IPL is a multi-million dollar machine, generating over $15m broadcasting fees per match, and coming second only to the NFL as the richest league in the world.

The cash cricket cow that is the IPL has seen big funding from American investors, including the likes of Silver Lake Partners, TPG Capital and KKR
KKR
and Co. The format of three-hour games filled with huge hits, world-class talent from all over the globe, pitchside entertainment and premium technology in impressive stadia makes this a very desirable product to replicate. Major League Cricket has the finances. It now needs the optics, facilities and audience.

Kolkata Knight Riders, owned by Bollywood superstar, Shah Rukh Khan, was the first IPL franchise to invest in the MLC. They have taken a stake in the LA team as well as committing to a brand-new cricket site in Southern California. The idea is for all six teams to have their own stadiums in the next three to five years. “Our investment in MLC in America is based on our belief in the exciting future of cricket in the U.S.A and is well aligned to our strategy of establishing Knight Riders as a global brand in T20 cricket,” said Khan.

Three other IPL franchises have followed suit with the Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, and Delhi Capitals anchoring the Texas, New York and Seattle teams respectively. Australia’s Cricket Victoria has a high-performance partnership with the San Francisco Unicorns and Cricket New South Wales has teamed up to provide similar services to Washington Freedom. The league has also been sanctioned officially by the International Cricket Council. This is a serious moonshot.

With an estimated 30 million cricket fans in the USA, bolstered by South Asian and Caribbean immigrants, there is an existing community to capture. Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft
MSFT
and a part-owner of the Seattle Sounders franchise in Major League Soccer, is one of the leading investors in the initial outlay of $120m into the MLC.

Broadcasters include Willow TV and Viacom18 in India. “Our six teams feature T20 players who fans in India love to watch, and they (Viacom) are the right partner to showcase sports broadcasts in the world’s largest cricket market,” said Vijay Srinivasan , co-Founder of the MLC. The Indian subcontinent holds all the cards when it comes to cricket fanatics.

There is enough global quality on show too. Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga is one of the world’s best T20 all-rounders. Mitchell Marsh hit a swashbuckling century for Australia with huge sixes in the Headingley Ashes Test match. Pakistan’s Haris Rauf, West Indian Sunil Narine and England’s big-hitting Jason Roy are also among the stars aiming to drive home the entertainment ticket to the masses.

Roy cancelled the incremental contract with his country for what could be a sum of between £150-200k (up to $260m) for just over two weeks’ work across the pond. If players see the dollar signs more than strict loyalty to their nation, then the MLC might be doing something right. It’s worth noting that the founders insist they are not trying to tread on anyone’s toes. The carrot is being dangled though.

In 2024, the USA are due to co-host the flagship ICC T20 World Cup tournament alongside the West Indies which opens the door to an even bigger audience. Recent reports hinted that the vital infrastructure in the country was not ready. However, the ICC confirmed that there are no plans to shift the venue to England as reported. The task now is for the United States to put together a team that is competitive in the next 12 months and keep developing the quality environment that such events demand.

The development of Minor League Cricket in 2021 has been important in encouraging homegrown stars. The next two and a half weeks will provide a perfect platform for exposure. If Chris Eubanks can come out of nowhere, then who knows which latent talent can rise to the surface.

The field of dreams has arrived but without Kevin Costner and no baseball bat. “Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers,” said American author Seth Godin. That model may be about to be strongly tested as cricket looks for a rebirth Stateside.