Up to Bat

Cricket Expands in US

By Erica Rascón on Aug 1, 2017 in News

Pennsylvania-based Global Sports Ventures plans to introduce eight professional cricket teams to the United States. Each team will have its own stadium complex as part of a three-year initiative to solidify the sport’s presence in the country.

To Jay Pandya, chairman of Global Sports Ventures, the U.S. is the next natural frontier for cricket. The sport has a growing and passionate fan base. More than 1 million viewers watched the live broadcast of the 2015 World Cup. That same year, an exhibition series touring Los Angeles, Houston, and New York attracted audiences averaging 28,000 viewers.

“We, as Americans, look for new things and grow into different fields. People don’t realize that cricket was partially born in the U.S. The first international game was played between the U.S. and Canada in New York. The 1844 game, played in Bloomingdale Park in Manhattan was one of the earliest international games on record,” Pandya explains in an interview.

Possible stadium sites include Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Orlando, Washington, D.C. and East Brunswick, New Jersey. These markets were chosen, in part, for their large Asian populations according to an article on Bisnow.com.

“When you have people of South Asian descent who really understand cricket, it helps. But after that it will probably go mainstream with Americans. I believe that will be very quick, because, as Americans, we just love sports. [And] it doesn’t matter what kind of sport,” says Pandya.

To jump start the plan, Global Sports Ventures entered a $70 million licensing agreement with the USA Cricket Association (USCA).  More than 32,000 cricket players are registered with the USCA and may become members of the future teams.  There are also several smaller organizations throughout the nation that may serve as sources of talent and fans.

Global Sports Ventures has allotted $2.4 billion towards infrastructure. Each of the eight stadiums comes with an estimated cost between $70 – $125 million. The mixed-use buildings surrounding each stadium add about $100 million per site. Guests can expect restaurants, hotels, offices spaces, and residential units in each complex.

Pandya has committed to a neck-breaking timeline. His company plans to introduce the new teams by 2020, though it is uncertain how many stadiums will be completed by that time.

Pandya is confident in Global Sports Venture’s decision to invest in the United States. “We strongly believe that the stadiums we are looking to build will all be state of the art. [That] really leaves the ICC no room but to go to the best venues in the world in the world’s largest global economy. We anticipate that any numbers done in Australia, England or India could be five-fold here in the U.S,” he says.