The 2024 Cricket World Cup is a big step toward popularizing the sport in America.
Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas (photo courtesy Dallas Morning News)
I believe an exciting future awaits cricket in America, and it won’t be long before we see results. The International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup begins on June 1, and the competition will span the entire month. The U.S. is not only one of 20 countries participating; the U.S. is also co-hosting the tournament with Caribbean countries.
To make things even more exciting, America’s first game–against Canada on June 1–will be played on home soil at Grand Prarie Cricket Stadium in Dallas, TX.
Tournament games will also be played on Long Island, in Florida, and in various locations in the West Indies, with the final match on June 29 in Barbados.
Learn more about the 2024 tournament here. You can watch tournament action on Willow TV.
I have no doubt that co-hosting and playing cricket here will boost domestic interest in the game. When India hosted the 2023 World Cup, the ICC reported that it recorded over a trillion viewing minutes. While India has a significant headstart on cricket interest, there’s no doubt that the World Cup will draw new U.S.-based fans to the game.
But the rise of interest in America was a long time coming. Cricket was introduced in the 18th century through British colonization, and the U.S. played its first international cricket match in 1844 against Canada at St. George’s, New York. While there’s no question that cricket’s popularity lags behind America’s big four sports–football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey–the sport is more popular here than many people think.
Photo courtesy of Cricket TImes
Recently, the U.S. kicked off Major League Cricket (MLC), and the response has been encouraging. More than 77,000 people attended the inaugural season of the MLC and bought in around $2.8 million in ticket sales revenue. MLC also reported that this league reached audiences of all levels, generating 110 million+ social media impressions and around 9 million engagements/15 million match views worldwide on YouTube.
There’s more, too. In addition to co-hosting the Cricket World Cup this year, the U.S. will also be home base to cricket’s return to the Summer Olympics after a 128-year absence. That will happen in 2028 at the Los Angeles games.
So, there are good reasons to be optimistic about cricket’s popularity here. But “likely” and “possible” popularity needs to be translated into tickets sold, customers in seats, and fans viewing the games on various platforms. Will it happen? I believe that the 2024 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics will go a long way toward popularizing the game in America, including motivating young people to play.
