America isn’t ready for cricket. Los Angeles Olympics 2028 head Casey Wasserman isn’t sure about the venue of the sport. July 14, 2028 seems far away, but the Olympics are known for future planning. We already knew Brisbane was going to be the host of the 2032 edition of the Games in 2021. So, going by their own standards, things are moving slowly. One shouldn’t forget that being ‘ready’ for cricket isn’t easy.
Stadium situation in USA
It takes months to prepare a cricket stadium. Ensuring the pitch and outfield are match-ready and safe for players can be extremely difficult. But before that, you have to decide the venue. Los Angeles, the host of the Olympics 2028, doesn’t have an international cricket stadium. In fact, there are just 4 stadiums in the USA. Three of which are in Texas and one in Florida.
Cricket, money maker
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had previously talked about grabbing hold of the Indian market. For the 2021-24 cycle, the IOC made a meager $12 million (Rs 100 crore) from media. Considering the population of India is 1.45 billion (145 crore), that’s peanuts. However, cricket’s introduction would that increase to $201-268 million (Rs 1689-2253 crore). The promise of such a mammoth rise is the reason why cricket was reintroduced after 128 years.
Time zone
Wasserman realises that he needs to cater to the Indian audience. So, although the hosts are in Los Angeles, we might see the venue be New York for the matches. You see, LA is 12:30 hours behind in time whereas NY is just 9:30. The time zone is one of the reasons why India’s cricket matches started at 10:30 AM in NY (8 PM in India) during the T20 World Cup. Florida could be another option due to similar time difference as New York, but rain reigned supreme there during the World Cup and it that happens during the Olympics, it’ll cause a debacle.
Nassau conundrum
However, there is another issue. New York doesn’t have a stadium either. There was one until a couple of months ago. It went by the name Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. It was made just for the T20 World Cup 2024 and dismantled soon after the event was over.
This has certainly created an unwanted problem for cricket at the LA Olympics 2028. “We’re still working through the specifics,” Wasserman told Cricbuzz when asked about the venue situation. Two sports, Canoe Slalom and Softball, will be played in Oklahoma instead of Los Angeles and it won’t be shocking to learn that Cricket joins them soon.
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