Cricket will make its long-awaited Olympic return at the Los Angeles Games (Photo by INDRANIL … [+]
The Bay Area is in the mix to host cricket matches at the Los Angeles Olympics, with power brokers from San Francisco Unicorns scouting a permanent ground that could be used for the 2028 Games.
Cricket will end a 128-year Olympic drought but venues have yet to be determined, with the men’s and women’s competitions possibly extending beyond Los Angeles.
Dallas, with its former baseball stadium in Grand Prairie becoming the hub of cricket in the U.S, has hosted the bulk of Major League Cricket over its first couple of seasons.
New York has also been bandied around as a potential Olympic site having staged eight T20 World Cup matches at its $30 million modular stadium in Long Island.
The cricket ground was torn down immediately after the tournament, but billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the owner of MI New York, reportedly has plans to build a world-class facility in the famous city.
Seattle, too, is also eying the 2028 Olympics. All six MLC teams hope to eventually have their own stadium as the tournament eyes an expanded home and away format in the coming years.
The Unicorns had earmarked a site in Santa Clara, but are currently widening their search although the ground will most likely be in the Silicon Valley.
“We’re looking at Santa Clara but also a couple of other options as well. I think we’ll have more clarity around that next year,” Unicorns co-owner Anand Rajaraman told me.
Major League Cricket has been primarily played in Grand Prairie, Texas (AP Photo/LM Otero)
A stadium, with initial plans including a crowd capacity of 10,000 and reminiscent of small, quaint grounds in New Zealand, is hoped to be built well before the Los Angeles Olympics.
“That is our hope and ambition, so that we can get it done in time for the LA Olympics,” Rajaraman said. “That’s an internal deadline that we’re working towards. And clearly a lot depends on getting the support of the local government…wherever that is…to get things done in time, to get the permit approvals done.”
The Unicorns are hoping to play home games next season at a temporary ground, with MLC power brokers knowing the tournament must start moving around the country.
“There are half a dozen options that we’re looking at, some of which are already existing minor league cricket grounds and some are other sports (grounds) which we think can be converted for (cricket) in short order,” Rajaraman said.
“We had a fan day before the tournament where at least 1000 people showed up, so there’s clearly growing enthusiasm in the Bay Area.
“But I keep getting asked when are we going to play games in the Bay Area. That’s the next big challenge – how can we figure out how to play home games as soon as possible.”
After a successful launch, where financial expectations were surpassed, the novelty factor wore off in MLC’s second season played in the aftermath of the T20 World Cup co-hosted by the U.S.
The U.S. co-hosted the T20 World Cup (Photo by Matt Roberts-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
“We were dealing with a bit of a saturation of cricket…there was a little bit of fatigue that we were fighting,” Rajaraman said. “That’s why I think having games distributed (around the country) could help avoid that problem.
“Broadcasters will want to see the games played in different locations and New York I think is hoped to host games sooner rather than later.
“The goal is to probably (next season) end up playing in maybe three facilities. I’m hoping the Bay Area will be one of them.”
