Cricket matches at the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics are expected to be held on the East Coast, according to host committee chair Casey Wasserman.
Speaking at the Texas Business of Sports Summit in Austin, Wasserman noted that LA28 is designing the cricket program to maximize viewership in India, which is 12 hours and 30 minutes ahead of Los Angeles and nine hours and 30 minutes ahead of New York.
The Indian market was a crucial factor in cricket’s inclusion in LA28. As reported by Sportico in May, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) currently receives minimal media revenue from India, the world’s most populous country. The four-year deal that includes the 2024 Paris Games was valued at approximately $12 million.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) informed the IOC that adding cricket could potentially increase that revenue to between $201 million and $268 million for the four-year LA28 cycle. There was also discussion about LA28 benefiting from this revenue increase; however, Wasserman did not comment on that during a Sportico interview last October.
While in Austin, Wasserman did not specify which East Coast venues might be considered or provide additional details about LA28’s plans. An official venue plan released in June 2024 did not include cricket, and a representative for LA28 did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The Los Angeles host committee has a budget of $6.88 billion, with a goal of securing $2.5 billion in domestic partnerships still in progress. However, Wasserman announced on Friday that the group has already secured $4.7 billion in contractually obligated revenue, which has been achieved prior to ticket sales, although he did not specify how this figure was calculated. For comparison, the 2024 Paris Games generated approximately $4.2 billion in total revenue.
Cricket is one of six sports—along with baseball, softball, flag football, squash, and lacrosse—recently added to the Olympic program specifically for LA28. Cricket has appeared in the Games once before, in 1900.
Unlike the other new sports, cricket poses a unique venue challenge. The LA28 committee has expressed plans to keep costs down by using existing venues; however, there are very few suitable cricket venues in California or elsewhere in the United States. The ICC’s T20 World Cup, co-hosted in the U.S. earlier this year, utilized three venues in Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, and a temporary stadium built on Long Island outside New York City.
Although the structure of the temporary venue has been dismantled, the pitch and irrigation systems remain in place. The New York franchise in Major League Cricket, owned by the family of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is reportedly planning to construct a new venue in the New York City area.
Cricket will not be the only sport in LA28 not held in California. Canoe slalom and softball have already been scheduled to take place in Oklahoma City, where existing venues will be used. Wasserman noted in June that utilizing pre-existing infrastructure outside Los Angeles could lead to savings of over $150 million and new revenue to help maintain a balanced budget. Other sports may also be relocated.
Recent Olympic Games have extended beyond a single host city. The 2024 Paris Summer Games will feature surfing in Tahiti, sailing in Marseille, and soccer matches held across France. Similarly, soccer events during the 1984 Los Angeles Games were also played in various locations across the country.
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Name of Author: Cricexec Staff
