Cricket's US Foray at Nervous Stage With Major League Cricket

In the last few years, there has been lot of noise around taking cricket to the US. So much that the International Cricket Council made them the “co-hosts” of the 2024 T20 World Cup along with the West Indies. Suspense and drama continues over that move because, as News18 CricketNext reported last month, the tournament could be shifted to England due to under-preparedness of cricket infrastructure in the US and the ongoing governing issues.

The larger question remains: is US ready to welcome cricket?

Unlike other regions, US is a market that’s distinct from say India, England or Australia. For the Americans, sport needs to be a spectacle, a source of entertainment and for them getting maximum entertainment/return for the dollar spent is more important than the perfect outswing or a glorious cover drive.

Over the last few weeks, News18 CricketNext spoke to numerous people in the US – from administrators to expats to fans and all acknowledged hosting just a cricket match in the US is not going to do the trick. Even for the expats, every delivery has to be “an event” and a source of entertainment.

“The way professional sport is presented in America, it’s very different. Every time there is a stoppage in play, there is an activation going on. There is something going on in the stadium or in the crowd. So you have to think about how you will present a show. They don’t call going to a show in baseball for no reason at all. When we went to see the Dallas Wings play, when we went to see Angel City Soccer, there is a lot of stuff going on around the actual sport. So you have to build that along with what you are doing,” says Shaun Martyn, founder of FairBreak Global.

Martyn was set to host an edition of the FairBreak Global Invitational tournament in the US in September but decided to postpone it. For him, it was a strategic call to use the time to understand the “educated” American audience and the team at FairBreak “collectively agreed” to prepare for the “spectacle” and give their best shot.

“I don’t know whether I am right in that view and it’s more of a gut feeling I have. Everything we have done so far, we have put in a lot of thought into it. The American sporting audience is highly educated. Not that others around the world aren’t, but American sporting audience is very educated. The way they do sports there is like you are going to a place of entertainment. Collectively our team asked are we putting on a show to engage the US audience? Especially with the expectations they have when they go for other sports. Last year in August I went to watch a college football match in the US and there were 66,000 people in attendance. Putting on a spectacle demands a lot of thought and preparation. That’s what we as a team realised and collectively agreed upon,” adds Martyn.

The Major League Cricket test

Finally, the inaugural edition of the MLC gets underway on July 13 at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas and everyone will be closely tracking the response of the tournament which has no dearth of star power. Four IPL franchises – Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians – have acquired teams and top international players will be in action from July 13-July 30.

“The big test will be the MLC. If the MLC doesn’t take off, then nothing will, trust me on this. US is a very difficult market to penetrate. And you don’t get too many shots at that. One miss and you are gone. So MLC can’t afford to mess it up. Not just for them but for the overall future and popularity of the game. Right now, all the infrastructure and governance can take a backseat. MLC has to put on a real show and keep the audience engaged and interested for over two weeks. Out of curiosity and excitement, it will be easy to get the fans to the stadium once, but the key would be to make them come again. Even if it’s the large expat base,” says a veteran cricket administrator in the US.

The organisers have planned a drone show and fireworks for the opening night of the MLC and more such initiatives will be seen during the course of the tournament. The tickets for the matches start at $30 and American fans certainly want maximum return for every dollar spent.

“The opening night of Major League Cricket will be an unforgettable experience for fans on and off the field. The drone show, fireworks and the pageantry traditional to American sporting events will provide a thrilling stage for the world’s best cricketers competing in the inaugural match of Major League Cricket,” Sameer Mehta, Co-founder, Major League Cricket, said in a statement.

Not just the organisers of MLC, everyone from ICC to various other stakeholders will be tracking the tournament. MLC could well turn out to be the springboard for cricket in the region or the anchor which takes the entire ship down.

Even for Martyn and FairBreak, success of MLC is important because it will “create interest in the US”.

“We want the MLC to be successful because it will help create interest in the US. I personally think women’s cricket will be very successful in America. I think it will do what women’s soccer has done in America. In terms of our mission which is around social impact – what we do and how we change lives around for women. That is our very clear focus.

“For cricket to be very successful in America, the expat community is going to be very important for us. The community will play a major role in moving cricket into American sporting psyche and help making it successful on a long term basis. Purely from a women’s cricket perspective, we wanted to spend some more time educating the people what FairBreak does. Probably the next month, I will be announcing something which is going to be very exciting and will further underpin what I am talking about in terms of establishing our brand there. It wasn’t about using the MLC opportunity but about what we want with our brand in the US market,” says Martyn.

The expats are excited for the start of MLC as it gives them an opportunity to see their favourite stars from close quarters. They, however, want to keep their expectations in check. India and West Indies have played few T20Is in US in the past, and will again play in a series next month, but MLC serves cricketing action featuring top international stars for more than two weeks.

“We are excited to see these international players. We are also realistic when it comes to expectations. Let’s be honest, it’s not going to be the IPL or anywhere close to it. Idea is to enjoy these matches and hope it gets the desired attention in the region. There won’t be any Indian players in the league, I mean the active ones, so let’s see how things unfold,” says a financial executive from India, settled in US since the last 10 years.

The next few weeks will decide whether the noise around bringing cricket to the US turns into music or fades away like a broken record. As most have said, cricket won’t get many shots to penetrate the US market.