US shows ‘unprecedented interest’ in cricket as 190,000 attend T20 World Cup matches

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, hosted for the first time in the United States, saw thousands of fans flock to the stadiums in New York, Texas and Florida in what the ICC described as “incredible fan engagement” and “unprecedented interest in cricket in the USA from sports fans.”

“Fans in the USA turned out in extraordinary numbers for the first round of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, co-hosted by the West Indies and the USA,” the ICC said in statement. “In the USA alone, 190,000 fans attended matches that have captivated the country and set the stage for cricket’s continued growth in North America.”

The U.S. hosted 16 of the 55 matches in the tournament, including the opening match between Canada and the U.S. on June 1.

Nassau County cricket stadium drew biggest crowds

The largest venue during the World Cup, the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Long Island in New York, saw almost 165,000 people in attendance during the course of the tournament. The purpose-built modular stadium had a seating capacity of 34,000. The matches with the most number of people included Pakistan vs. India, with 34,028 fans present, and U.S. vs. India with 31,722 people in attendance.

Meanwhile, over 22,000 people attended the four matches at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Texas, which has a seating capacity of 7,000, according to Major League Cricket.

The lowest turnout in the U.S. was at the Broward County Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida, where Pakistan played Ireland in front of over 4,000 fans. Three games, including U.S. vs. Ireland, were washed out due to storms and unprecedented rainfall. The stadium was recently renovated for the tournament, with the seating capacity doubled from 5,000 seats to almost 10,000, according to a Broward County Parks news release.

While a total of 190,000 cricket enthusiasts were in attendance at the three stadiums across the U.S., tens of thousands of fans also flocked to the fan parks set up in major cities across the U.S. including New York, Seattle and Dallas, as per the ICC.

Interest in cricket increases online

An increase in digital engagement on multiple ICC platforms was also noted with 2.7 million U.S.-based users “visiting the ICC website and app, which is up 370% from the number recorded for the entire ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022,” the ICC said, adding that of those viewers, 52% were new fans.

“The time spent on the ICC website and app has doubled for those recorded in 2022 and 71% of the users are coming from organic search showcasing the increased interest in the sport,” ICC said in its news release.

While the U.S. leg of the tournament wrapped up on June 12 with a match between India and the U.S., the 2024 T20 Cricket World Cup is still ongoing with the final scheduled to be held on June 29 in the West Indies. The tournament is currently in its final stage and the first semi-final match will be played between Afghanistan and South Africa on Wednesday. The second semi-final will be played between India and England on Thursday.

ICC ‘absolutely delighted’ with turnout for cricket tournament in US

“We are absolutely delighted with how the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup has gone in the USA” ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley said in a statement.

Tetley said that the U.S. is a “priority area of the global growth strategy” for the ICC and that the cricketing body is pleased with the way the tournament was received. The official added that the ICC is now looking to “further build this up over the next four years towards the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 and beyond.”

Prior to the start of the tournament, ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said in an interview with USA TODAY that the opportunity to bring one of the council’s “showcase events to the U.S. for the first time is a milestone for the sport of cricket.”

“To be able to bring some of the biggest teams and the biggest matches to one of the biggest cities in the world and in the country with the biggest sports following and sports market in the world, I think, is a great opportunity for our sport,” Allardice said.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: T20 World Cup draws ‘unprecedented interest’ for cricket in US