Cricket may be known as a quintessentially English game, but it is played all over the world, and there are plenty of formats of the game that have grown in recent years. New territories including the US and Canada are starting to embrace cricket, especially the shorter, more exciting formats of the game.
A good gauge of the popularity is always the cricket betting market, and with more people looking for ways to gamble on cricket in the US, and more American coverage, it is expected to see growth.
While many people are trying to predict the outcome of Indian Premier League (IPL) games there is also a focus on cricket played in the US… more on that later.
Forms of cricket
The oldest forms of cricket, including test cricket, are matches that can last up to five days. While many cricket fans say that this makes for a really thrilling contest, it can definitely be difficult to follow this kind of game. Who has time to follow it?
However, there are other forms of cricket in both international and club competitions. International cricket is also played in one day formats which take between 6-8 hours in most situations.
There’s also a format called T20 which has taken off to become a huge sport. This is an easy way to start to get into cricket even if you don’t fully understand it.
A lot of Americans see cricket for the first time by watching a T20 competition such as the IPL and they see the party atmosphere.
Unlike the stereotype you might have of some other types of cricket, with long days and sometimes not much happening, T20 is designed to add a lot of urgency to the game. While some purists don’t like it, it has made cricket more popular and is the most watched form of the game in the US.
The growth of cricket in the US
The shorter formats definitely hope to make cricket easier to market and promote in the US. There are loads of reasons why cricket is becoming more popular, and one of these is the fact that there are a lot of South Asian people living in the US.
In numerous parts of Asia, cricket is massive, and NBC news has concluded that this is one of the reasons why there is an appetite for cricket and cricket gambling in the US.
Major League Cricket
It sounds like an expansion of Major League Baseball, but it isn’t, it is a tournament made for cricket fans. It is estimated that up to 200,000 people in the US now play cricket, and there are enough people playing to support leagues.
There has been a “Minor League” playing since 2021 and plans for a six-team Major League which will then grow and develop in the future.
The infrastructure is under development too. In 2024, the ICC Cricket World Cup will be partially held in the United States.
MLC or Major League Cricket will start with six teams. They are open to investors around the country, as a lot of other countries have experienced huge growth in their cricket leagues due to external investment. Eventually, it may expand to eight or 10 teams in line with the T20 leagues in several other countries.
The CEO of USA cricket, Iain Higgins, is thought to have identified cities, including New York, LA and Chicago, as markets where cricket is most popular. Gambling on cricket is, of course, restricted to states where gambling is legal.
The AirHogs Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas is also going to play a big part in MLC, as it is being converted into a cricket stadium, which will host a team that is based in Dallas.
Summary
Cricket is growing at a huge rate in the US. Nobody can deny that the United States is crazy about sports. In many states, gambling on those sports is also very common. It is likely that this will continue as cricket gains popularity. In 2023, a huge international tournament will even take place partially in the US.
Cricket gambling is fairly popular at the moment, with many sportsbooks open for betting on the sport, but expect this to gain a lot of traction in the coming years. There is a huge effort to grow cricket and create American teams that attract some of the top names in the sport and gain some huge viewing figures too.