How the land of baseball could be cricket’s new hub

In the land of baseball, the T20 World Cup arrives with hopes of popularising ‘the gentleman’s game’ in the biggest economies in the world.

With a GDP of over 25 trillion US dollars, there is a massive scope for cricket to enter this market to bring a sport in transition to a better, more profitable future. 

We are already seeing cases of Test cricket proving to be too expensive to host for most of the Test-playing nations apart from the big three of England, Australia and India. 
Especially with the rise of franchise T20 leagues, the game’s longer formats seem to be struggling to fill stadiums and generate expected revenues. 

If we added the GDP of all other teams participating in the T20 World Cup barring the West Indies, it would come to over 13 trillion US dollars, just over half the GDP of the US.

Joe Pompliano, a sports businessperson, and investor, ranked cricket as the second-most-watched sport on the globe during a show on his podcast “The Joe Pomp Show.” 

According to him, India is the cricket industry’s largest market, with close to 550 million fans. 
According to the data, China is the second-largest cricket market, with 408 million people exhibiting interest in the sport each year. The United States comes in third place, with 63 million cricket fans.

The T20 World Cup will spread much-needed cricket awareness in the USA but eventually, it is the lure of competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics that will attract local Americans to the game that is mainly played by expats, feels USA Cricket chairman Venu Pisike. 

Speaking to PTI, Pisike agreed it is a major challenge to bring cricket to the masses in the USA. 

“So far, cricket is predominantly an expats’ game, but with the marketing and promotion activities during the World Cup, there is some momentum and the World Cup will definitely boost the opportunities to expand the game in the USA,” said Pisike. 

“Definitely, the World Cup is bringing a lot of awareness and then the opportunity for cricket to be in the Olympics, that will definitely attract the community because the US is a huge sports country,” he added.

The ICC’s decision to host part of the World Cup in the US — and especially the highly anticipated India-Pakistan match — was a strategic move to take advantage of the potential for growth in the country, according to USA Cricket. 

That match has been sold out with 34,000 seats at the newly built venue in New York, 

The sport is especially gaining steam and popularity in Texas. 

A large South Asian diaspora is located in the Houston and Dallas area, bringing with them their favourite sport, which has flourished among the Lone Star State’s competitive spirit. 

In the nation’s capital, Washington, DC, American and Georgetown University have established their very own cricket clubs, introducing the sport to many American students.

Given the recent good results of the USA against Bangladesh, where the hosts historically defeated the Tigers in the T20I series, the interest will only increase.

And with that, the potential money those involved with cricket can make will be something that can breathe new life into a sport at a crossroads.