Cricket fever descends on the US: Will Americans catch it?

LONG ISLAND, N.Y. — A smattering of Hindi and Urdu mixed with American-accented English could be heard over the blasts of Bollywood music this past Sunday at a stadium on Long Island, N.Y., offering a signal that cricket had arrived in the United States.

Fans were packed in like sardines at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, N.Y., just an hour from Manhattan, as fans wore the bright blue jerseys of India and the green ones representing Pakistan for the first match between the rivals ever held on U.S. soil.

It was billed as the most anticipated match at the T20 cricket World Cup, which continues on Friday with a battle between the U.S. and Ireland in Lauderhill, Fla.

This year’s monthlong tournament is being hosted by the United States and the West Indies, with 20 countries competing through June 29, when the title game is held in Jamaica. T20 is a shortened form of cricket introduced at the professional level in 2003.

It’s the latest part of a well-financed push to infect American sports fans with cricket fever — an effort that got a major boost from the home team’s shocking win against Pakistan last week.

Still, even as that upset broke through on social media, cricket has a way to go before having the commercial success of the NFL or NBA in the United States.

Two weeks into the tournament, the biggest draw so far has been the clash between India and Pakistan that drew 34,000 to Long Island.

It also drew Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who took photos with fans but acknowledged being a bit mystified by the rules of the “gentleman’s game.”

Asked if he understood the rules of the game during a Wednesday interview, Schumer responded with an emphatic “no,” before adding that it was a “bit like baseball.”

“It was the greatest. I had so much fun,” Schumer told The Hill.

“I was bowled over — the environment was festive, electric and passionate. The fans of both the Indian and Pakistani teams were overjoyed to see their heroes — many of the best players in the world — playing cricket and promoting the sport they love right here in New York. I look forward to many more 6s smashed across the line with cricket’s growing popularity. We should have a cricket World Cup here every year,” Schumer added. 

The U.S. team won new fans with its big upset over Pakistan. Shortly after his team lost to India on Wednesday, U.S. batter Aaron Jones said he hoped the team would become more of a draw for American fans. 

“We want more fans for USA cricket, and we’ve been talking about it a lot over the years and we are trying to enjoy it,” Jones added.

The surprise victory over Pakistan ranked among the biggest wins in U.S. cricket history. 

“Playing against Pakistan for the first time in the World Cup and beating them, it was an unbelievable performance,” Monank Patel, captain of the U.S. team, told reporters after the match.

A recent YouGov survey released ahead of the T20 World Cup revealed that only a small percentage of Americans are aware of major cricket leagues. Around 10 percent are aware of the U.S.-based Major League Cricket, while awareness for other leagues like the Indian Premier League and the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup stands even lower at 6 percent. 

Eight in 10 Americans indicated they were not aware of any cricket leagues.

Anurag Dahiya, the chief commercial officer of the global governing body of cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC), told The Hill that the long-term success of the sport is going to be built on people playing it.

“It’s 100 percent about getting more kids playing. We’ve actually launched a program playground to podium, which is aiming to get a million school kids playing cricket by the time the Los Angeles Olympics games roll in,” he said. 

However, Dahiya added that he “fully appreciates” that it’s not the simplest sport to understand. 

“It’s not about hitting the balls. It’s not as simple as that. But when you spend a little bit of time, and especially given that there are some similarities with baseball, there’s at least some terminology that you can latch on to and start explaining to people where you explain that a 6 is like a home run,” he said. 

Karan Mehta, who works in finance in Dallas, Texas, attended games in his home city as well as in New York. He told The Hill that the U.S. team’s performance so far has given the sport a huge boost in this country.

“We know Americans don’t typically care about sports until we’re good, so this performance thus far has already catalyzed the speed of growth,” he said. 

Given the newly formed Major League Cricket and Minor League Cricket, “with the right strategic focus and investment into the grassroots of American cricket,” the U.S. could be a force to be reckoned with in the next Olympics, he said. 

Major League Cricket launched in the summer of 2023 as an 18-day tournament. It has some major investors, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Todd Myers, chief operating officer of Willow TV, the U.S. broadcaster of T20 cricket, told The Hill that the streamer has seen strong viewership and engagement for the T20 World Cup so far, both on TV and digital platforms. Exact viewership figures were not shared, which makes it harder to ascertain whether or not the sport has made inroads with an American audience so far.

While it may take time, Myers point to the Olympics in suggesting that Americans can learn to root for different kinds of sports. He also said the growth of soccer is a positive sign.

“I mean, 30 years ago, if you were a legitimate soccer fan, you would have maybe gotten scoffed at by your buddies, and now look at soccer. I live here near Orlando, and Lionel Messi obviously came to Major League Soccer last year, and even here in Orlando, which is three, four hours from Miami, you see kids walking around with Lionel Messi jerseys,” he added.

“You see tremendous support for the men’s and women’s soccer teams. All that’s going to happen for cricket, it just is going to take time.”