Sporticast 348: Cricket World Cup Comes to U.S. With $15 Million Game

On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams speak with Brett Jones, CEO of the U.S. host committee of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, about the upcoming event and how the sport of cricket is growing in the U.S.

Co-hosted in the U.S. and the West Indies later this year, this will be the largest T20 World Cup in history, with 20 participating teams. It will also be a first for the U.S., which is participating as a host nation. Jones talks about the popularity of cricket in the U.S.–it is the fourth biggest market for the sport internationally, he says–and how big international events like this can provide a boost.

The U.S. will host only group stage games, and in three locations–Dallas, Texas; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Long Island, N.Y. He talks about how those places were chosen, and also about each venue. Cricket is played on a rounded field much bigger than a baseball field, making stadiums in the U.S. hard to come by. The group built a temporary 32,000-seat venue on Long Island as its third site, at a cost of about $30 million. That venue was specifically built with a lot of hospitality in mind, with thousands of premium seats, cabanas and boxes.

Ticket sales are the main revenue opportunity for the local committee, Jones says, as the ICC controls most of the media and sponsorship deals. And for ticket sales, there is nothing bigger than the June 9 showdown between India and Pakistan on Long Island. General admission tickets for the game sold out almost immediately, Jones said, and the premium–some of which cost $10,000–is almost all gone. He estimated that one game could bring a gate of $15 million. For reference, the highest gate in UFC history was a 2016 event at Madison Square Garden that sold $17.7 million in tickets. Knicks and Rangers playoff games in the same venue command significantly less.

Jones also talks about two other big developments for cricket in the U.S. A pro league, Major League Cricket, is now entering its second season, and the sport was recently added to the program for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

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