T20 World Cup is coming to New York – but not the city after public revolt

New York is probably the last place where you’d expect a major cricket tournament to be held, bar maybe Antartica or Siberia.

But this June, eight matches of the Men’s T20 World Cup will be held on Long Island – including the clash between India and Pakistan – after a temporary 34,000-seater stadium was built in Eisenhower Park. The tournament is being co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States, with stadiums in Florida and Texas also hosting four games each.

It feels rather strange that such an event is taking place in a country that doesn’t adore cricket, and there’s a good chance it will fly under the radar. There are some adverts for the World Cup in New York City, including in Times Square, but the locals aren’t inundated by them and most won’t attend.

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They’re more concerned with other sporting events happening, with Yankee season in full swing and the Rangers chasing NHL Playoff glory. Let’s not forget about the NBA Finals, of course.

Persuading cricket newbies to catch the Long Island Rail Road and make the 45-minute trek from Penn Station to Westbury is going to be tricky. Ticket prices are hardly inexpensive, with the cheapest priced at $60 for the unglamorous Canada-Ireland and Netherlands-South Africa fixtures.

And those wanting to see the clash between India and Pakistan will need to fork out $945 for the cheapest ticket on SeatGeek (at the time of writing). In comparison, it costs $55 to watch the Yankees take on the Dodgers on the same day, per Ticketmaster.

Many New Yorkers didn’t even want the World Cup to be held in the city. Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, initially wanted the tournament to be staged in the Bronx, where most of the city’s recreational cricket is played in Van Cortlandt Park.

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That would’ve been an ideal location. There’s a subway just outside the park and, crucially, it’s actually in New York City. The tournament’s eventual home in Nassau County is among the state’s white-picket fences and church bells. Yet locals rejected that idea last September. Factoring in how long it takes to build and take down the stadium, they didn’t want to lose their park for a huge chunk of 2024. Bronx residents in the local press were “disgusted” and warned: “You can’t ruin the park.”

After the decision was made to move the tournament to Long Island, Karen Argenti, the secretary of the board for the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, described it as “a big win for the people of New York City”.

Even some of New York’s club cricketers didn’t want the World Cup to take place in the Bronx. They were concerned about being forced to find a new home for their beloved pastime. “We play here every week, so this is our ground,” Jatin, who plays for Connecticut Panthers, told Mirror Sport in the Bronx. “We love playing here. We would’ve lost this ground, I guess, if the World Cup was held here, so I’m totally fine (with it being moved).”

Jatin’s teammate Nitya added: “This is our ground. We love playing cricket here, season after season. In that sense, I’m happy that we have the summer to ourselves – this ground to ourselves – to play.”

Yet many recreational players were in favour of holding the tournament at Van Cortlandt Park. “There was ample room to build a stadium here and service a lot of the cricket lovers and fans that live in upstate New York, in the city itself and catchment areas in Jersey and stuff like that,” said Nick of New York Kookaburras Cricket Club.

“But ultimately I think we were shouted down by other bodies – that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.” The park’s facilities are far from ideal. AstroTurf pitches would be preferred to the current sand-based decks, while the thick outfield stops worthy cover drives from piercing the boundary.

Kookaburras skipper Jack believes hosting the World Cup in the Bronx was an opportunity to improve Van Cortlandt Park’s cricket facilities. “The cricket facilities aren’t fantastic. It (the World Cup) came with the opportunity to improve them, which would’ve been great. And obviously the cricket would’ve been fantastic too.

“But as the leader of our team, I’m more interested in getting better facilities for the boys. Unfortunately it didn’t come to be, and we’ll have to suck it up. It is what it is.”

Yet the Bronx’s loss is Nassau County’s gain. The area boasts a growing South Asian community, with many fans looking forward to making the short trip to the ground. Mohammad Waqas, who plays for Long Island United Cricket Club, told CBS News last year: “We live right down the road. It’s going to be a spectacle. We’re all so excited.”

There’s also a belief the tournament will help grow cricket in New York’s suburbs. Fellow Long Island player Babar Zia added: “Mostly cricket in the United States is an immigrant, middle-aged, weekend warrior kind of sport. But the kids who were born here, they have started picking it up.”

And it’s hard to ignore the obvious economic impact for Long Island. “The economic driver is going to be tens of millions of dollars,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman told CBS News. “This will create jobs, as well. Local jobs.”

Many of New York’s clubbies are also happy to travel to Long Island – and beyond – to watch the action unfold. Nick explained: “I think India vs Pakistan would be a good one to get to. A few of the boys are planning to go to the Caribbean and see Australia vs England, which would be a party. Hopefully the good guys (Australia) get a win on that day! But yeah, we’ll go to Nassau and will try to soak up the spirit of the city while the cricket is here for a few weeks.”

Yet fellow Kookaburras player Amiya is planning on watching the World Cup on TV. “It’s a little far (to go) and the ticket prices were a bit too expensive this time around,” he admitted.

Ultimately, this is a tournament aimed at cricket’s global TV audience and existing fans in the New York area. The International Cricket Council, the sport’s governing body, want to put on a show in the most famous city in the world.

They know there are enough expats in and around New York who are willing to travel and pay hefty prices for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the T20 World Cup in the United States.

That’s clear by one defining factor: all of New York’s games start at 10:30am. And considering it takes between two and three hours to get to the ground from the city, that’s awfully early. But 10:30am in New York is 8pm in India; it’s 3:30pm in the UK. Cricket fans across the planet will be told the T20 World Cup is coming to New York. The reality, however, is much different.