Four years ago, when the idea of turning one of the city's little-used minor league baseball fields into a cricket stadium was proposed to officials in Grand Prairie, Texas, City Manager Bill Hills read a copy of “Cricket for Dummies.”
Like most Americans, Hills knew nothing about cricket. But that's starting to change.
Last year, the 7,200-seat stadium in Grande Prairie became the new home of the Texas Super Kings, one of six teams competing in Major League Cricket's inaugural season, and last week it was here that the U.S. national team recorded its biggest win ever, beating Pakistan in the Men's T20 World Cup, which is being co-hosted this year by the U.S. and several Caribbean countries and ends on June 29.
A few days later, more than 34,000 cricket fans watched India narrowly beat Pakistan in a temporary stadium built on Long Island. When Los Angeles hosts the Summer Olympics in 2028, cricket will be one of the new sports.
As cricket, the world's second-most popular sport, gains popularity in the United States, investors are looking to capitalize on the sport's growing audience, especially among cricket-loving South Asian immigrants. These include backers of major league cricket franchises who are drawing up plans to build dedicated cricket stadiums in each city. The San Francisco Unicorns, Los Angeles Knight Riders and Seattle Orcas (part-owned by Microsoft CEO Satyanadella) are negotiating leases and approvals to build new venues, which they hope to open within the next few years.
Hills said last season's Major League Cricket matches in Grande Prairie “definitely exceeded expectations.” During the two-week season and postseason, Grande Prairie attracted about 50,000 fans for 12 matches, and the playoffs from July 27 to July 30 generated $1.7 million in economic activity in retail, entertainment, car rental, hotels and food and beverage. The league's next season begins in July and will feature 16 matches in Grande Prairie. Hills expects 85,000 fans to attend the matches.
“Who would have thought that a city like Grande Prairie would end up hosting an international sporting event watched by millions around the world?” Hills said.
“This has made Grand Prairie a tourist destination rather than just a little town between Dallas and Fort Worth,” he said.
Major League Cricket's priorities include building additional stadiums with 7,000 to 10,000 seats near bustling areas that could one day be developed into entertainment districts. Will Swann, the league's vice president of corporate development and infrastructure, said the stadiums would be used as playing fields to develop young talent and deepen understanding of the game.
David Demarest, head of real estate brokerage JLL's sports and entertainment advisory group, said the cricket stadium offered a “tremendous opportunity to become an anchor that draws people in”.
“These are facilities that can be programmed for more than just cricket matches,” he said.
The Seattle Orcas plan to build their stadium at Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington, near the Microsoft campus and the vibrant downtown formed by the city of Bellevue. The Los Angeles Knight Riders are looking at a site in Irvine, California's Great Park, an affluent area of Orange County. The San Francisco Unicorns have proposed building their stadium at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, a redeveloped area near Silicon Valley, and are working on blueprints with Devcon, the company behind the San Francisco 49ers' stadium.
The San Francisco team's proposed site has development potential and demographic appeal: The team's research has found the Greater Bay Area has an affluent community of about 250,000 people of Indian and South Asian origins, said David White, the team's general manager. The Santa Clara site aims to become a sports and entertainment hub, attracting multiple sports facilities, including a Major League Soccer stadium.
Justin Geal, tournament director for Major League Cricket, said such developments would need to be built with fans in South Asia and other regions where cricket is popular in mind.
“We'll have samosas, we'll have hot dogs,” he said. “We'll be able to bring the best of American sports and the best of cricket and blend it together.”
Cricket-focused developments are also happening outside the league. In Oswego, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, entrepreneur Paresh Patel has received planning permission to develop Braeborne Stadium, which will include a 25,000-seat venue, a 120-room hotel, restaurants and a luxury clubhouse for special events. Construction is expected to begin this summer and the stadium will have more seats than the United Center, home of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks.
Baseball evolved from cricket, a game played between two teams in a large circular arena, where players take turns batting and pitching to score runs. Once a popular American pastime, cricket was replaced by baseball in the late 19th century. At its height, thousands of cricket clubs were active across the country, taking part in what The New York Times described in an 1853 column as “a manly and athletic sport.”
For purists, the pinnacle of the game is the so-called Test match, which can last up to five days. But a newer, more action-packed format of play, Twenty20, is rapidly gaining popularity. These matches can be played in three hours, making them better suited to broadcasters and modern attention spans. The Indian Premier League, one of the world's most valuable sporting properties, has adopted the format, as does Major League Cricket in the United States (many of the teams in the US league share owners with Indian franchises).
Major League Cricket is often compared to Major League Soccer, a US league that began about 30 years ago and now features many custom-built soccer stadiums in mixed-use urban developments that are attractive enough to attract global stars. The relatively short Major League Cricket season takes place between the schedules of other world cricket leagues, allowing many of the sport's top players, including Australian stars Steve Smith, Pat Cummins and Glenn Maxwell, to play in the US league. It's as if David Beckham and Lionel Messi had played in Major League Soccer's inaugural season rather than long after the league was established.
Still, cricket in the United States is still far from gaining the popularity and investment needed to support major stadiums like Lord's Cricket Ground in London, Eden Gardens in India or the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia.
“The only reason cricket isn't being played at the highest level is because we don't have the infrastructure in this country,” said Vijay Srinivasan, a Bay Area-based entrepreneur who founded Willow, a pay-per-view cricket service that has grown from a small streaming site into a cable channel seen in 4 million U.S. households.