With MLB struggling to build new stars, the USA might just have space for a new bat-and-ball game ©MLC
On Thursday July 13, something significant happened in Texas: seven thousand fans crammed into the Grand Prairie ground to watch The Super Kings take on The Knight Riders. But Chennai and Kolkata were nowhere in sight - this all-American derby pitted Texas against Los Angeles. After decades of anticipation about a major new market for cricket, the game had come crashing into the USA.
Major League Cricket (MLC) is a quest to capture American hearts and minds; to turn heads towards T20 cricket. It might sound like a long shot, but those involved reckon cricket can claim a slice of the US's sports-obsessed market. That could be a pretty big deal. India aside, cricket is a game that has - up until now - flourished in smaller markets. By contrast, the USA is the biggest sporting market in the world.
While the Indian Premier League has swiftly emerged as a challenger for world's most valuable sports league, America has four different leagues in that category, with the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association and National Hockey League all among the top earners. Which confirms that America's population of 330 million is large, and it also spends serious money on consuming sports.
What's more, cricket taking off in America might not be as unlikely as it sounds. "We have seen a big explosion of cricket over the last 10, 15 years," explains Washington Freedom owner Sanjay Govil. "In every city, you can go and lock in - LA cricket, Chicago cricket, DC cricket. There are a multitude of leagues. Cricket leagues are just mushrooming."
Much of that is down to an influx of South Asian and Caribbean ex-pats. The lure of Silicon Valley has seen the Indian population in the USA rise remarkably - from 815,000 in 1990 to around 4.5 million today. For many, cricket provides a connection to home. Since launching in 2010, Willow TV - America's first dedicated cricket channel - has claimed 4 million regular subscribers. Some reckon that already makes the US the world's second-biggest cricket-watching market - and that's before it's even registered on the average American's radar.
Meanwhile, baseball - once enshrined as America's Game - has been losing popularity for the past decade. Games have become longer, with more strikeouts and fewer balls being put in play. In 2022, 14 of the 30 teams in the MLB averaged less than a single home run per game. The sport has struggled to build new stars; undoubtedly, kids care less than they used to. The USA might just have space for a new bat-and-ball game.
T20 Cricket has a strong claim to being objectively more action-packed: after all, there were over 14 sixes per match during the IPL in 2022. Of course, breaking into the American sporting market is no mean feat. But, MLC has a couple of things working in its favour. Firstly, July is a pretty fallow time for American sports. The NBA, NFL and NHL are still months away from the start of their season. MLB franchises have generally played around 90 games by this time of year, with the small matter of another 70-odd before the playoffs hit. July could just come to be known as 'cricket time'.
Equally, the brevity of franchise leagues should play into MLC's hands. Major League Soccer has always struggled to attract real stars due to the length of its season - which runs from February to October. By contrast, MLC occupies just 18 days of the calendar: for year one alone, the league has been able to recruit players like Rashid Khan, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Marcus Stoinis, Faf du Plessis and Tim David. If those names don't instantly get American mouths watering, they at least guarantee a level of international intrigue.
The league has a global flavour: three of the six teams bear the name of IPL franchises; Seattle Orcas have a partnership with Delhi Capitals' co-owners GRM, while the Washington Freedom and San Francisco Unicorns have teamed up with New South Wales and Victoria respectively. MLC has managed to strike major broadcast deals across the cricket world: not just in India and Australia, but in the UK, Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand. While the league works to build its local audience, it should be able to rely on a steady stream of viewers from overseas.
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Yet it would be wrong to suggest that the international cricket community has been entirely supportive of MLC's grand plans. In response to the birth of MLC and the ILT20, several full-member nations petitioned the ICC to impose restrictions on franchise leagues - demanding a hard limit of four overseas players in any franchise XI.
