The Los Angeles Olympics 2028 organisers are sweating hard to find suitable venue to host the cricket games in the upcoming edition. Cricket is set to return to the Olympics after 128 years. The host city of the 28 Olympic Games is located in California on the West Coast of the United States, however, the cricket matches could reportedly be held on the East Coast (to align the time zone with cricket-crazy countries such as India and other South Asian nations).
Casey Wasserman, head of LA28, told Cricbuzz, “We’re still working through the specifics,” when asked if New York is under consideration.
The time difference between Los Angeles and India is a significant one. It is 12 hours and 30 minutes and, thus, this means a prime-time night match in LA, around 8 PM, would be broadcast across the Indian subcontinent during early morning (when most will be busy with their daily household and professional work). On the other hand, the time difference between New York and India is slightly less, i.e. nine and a half hours. Hence, it is being seen as a more suitable option.
The matches which will kickoff around 10:30-11:00 AM on the East Coast, such as in New York, would enable the Indian fans to watch the games around 8 PM – a similar such approach was also adopted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for this year’s T20 World Cup in June (co-hosted by West Indies and the USA).
Apart from the time zone considerations, finding a suitable venue is another challenge as there are limited cricket grounds in the US, with the country not known as a cricketing powerhouse. As a result, the LA28 organisers have not yet released the cricket venues, although the same has been done for most other sports.
Thus, the LA28 organisers have a task ahead to conduct the cricket games as the sport’s re-inclusion has already generated good buzz.
“Unlike the other new sports, cricket presents a unique venue challenge. LA28 has been vocal about how it plans to keep costs down by utilizing existing venues, but there are very few – if any – suitable cricket venues in California. Or in the rest of the country,” the Sportico website said. “The Indian market was a critical part of cricket’s pitch to join LA28.”
Notably, the format and qualification process for the cricket games at the 2028 Olympics are still being finalised. It is expected that the top six men’s and women’s teams in the ICC T20 rankings, at a certain cutoff date, will take part in the showpiece event.
