Is Cricket Really Growing in the USA? The Truth About Major League Cricket and America's Cricket Boom

Quick answer: Yes, cricket is growing in the United States, driven by Major League Cricket, the 2024 T20 World Cup, expanding youth participation, new stadiums and the sport's return to the 2028 Olympics. However, cricket still faces challenges such as limited mainstream awareness, governance issues and competition from America's established sports.

 

Metric	Value
MLC launched	2023
Franchises	6
Planned stadiums	10 by 2030
Olympics	LA 2028
Broadcast reach	90+ countries
Ticket sales growth	+53%
Social audience growth	+45%

 

Why are people asking if cricket is growing in the USA?

Five years ago, this question barely existed. Now it comes up in sports newsletters and podcasts that have never touched cricket before.

From a niche immigrant sport to mainstream conversations

For decades, cricket in America lived inside a specific circle: South Asian and Caribbean communities, weekend matches on borrowed fields. Not invisible, just not public.

That's changed. Tech executives now own franchises. ESPN carries matches. Cricket shows up in conversations about the Olympics. A different America than the one in 2015.

Why the 2024 T20 World Cup changed perceptions

The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by the USA, was the real turning point. Team USA beat Pakistan in a Super Over in Dallas, and the result traveled far beyond cricket circles.

A temporary stadium in Nassau County, New York, packed in over 34,000 fans for India vs Pakistan, reportedly the largest cricket crowd ever assembled in North America. Sports desks that had never run a cricket headline suddenly ran several.

 

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How popular is cricket in the USA today?

Popular is a loaded word. Growing is more accurate.

Estimated fan base and participation

Millions of Americans, mostly from South Asian and Caribbean diaspora communities, already follow cricket closely. A smaller but real base of American-born converts is growing too, pulled in through MLC and Olympic buzz. Minor League Cricket, the amateur pyramid feeding MLC, now spans hundreds of clubs.

TV viewership and streaming numbers

MLC's 2025 season broke its own records. Broadcast and streaming coverage reached more than 90 countries and an estimated 54 million homes. Social media audiences grew 45% year over year. Ticket sales rose 53%. A trajectory, not a spike.

States where cricket is growing the fastest

Texas leads on infrastructure, anchored by Grand Prairie Stadium and two franchises. California is close behind, with a new Oakland Coliseum venue and the Adobe-backed LA Lightning. Florida joined the map in 2025 when MLC debuted in Lauderhill, a region with a strong Caribbean cricket base. New Jersey and New York remain the emotional home of American cricket, home to the 2024 World Cup's Nassau County stadium and two-time champions MI New York.

 

How Major League Cricket is changing American cricket

What is Major League Cricket (MLC)?

MLC is the only ICC-sanctioned professional T20 franchise league in the US, founded in 2019 by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) and launched in 2023. Six franchises compete: MI New York, Texas Super Kings, Seattle Orcas, Washington Freedom, San Francisco Unicorns and LA Lightning. Season 4 runs 34 matches from June 18 to July 18, 2026.

Star international players attracting attention

MLC signs global names. Pat Cummins has become close to the league's mainstream face, drawing non-South Asian fans and breaking attendance records at Oakland. Rashid Khan earns around $175,000 in MLC, nearly 20 times his Afghanistan board salary, the kind of money that pulls in talent that wouldn't have looked at American cricket a decade ago.

Stadium investments and franchise expansion

More than $150 million has gone into US cricket infrastructure, with plans for 10 international-standard stadiums by 2030. Four of the six franchises carry IPL ownership money, alongside Silicon Valley names like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, owner of the Seattle Orcas.

Is MLC financially sustainable?

Here's the honest part. MLC still runs on investment, not profit. Ticket sales, broadcast deals and sponsorship are all rising, but rising from a small base isn't the same as breaking even. Owners are betting on the Olympics and a growing South Asian American population to eventually make the league self-sustaining. That bet hasn't paid off yet, but it's trending the right way.

 

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The biggest reasons cricket is growing in America

A rapidly growing South Asian population

America's South Asian population has grown fast over the past two decades, and that community carries cricket as a cultural constant. This demographic base is the foundation everything else builds on.

Youth academies and grassroots cricket

Youth academies have opened in Dallas, Houston, the Bay Area and New Jersey. Minor League Cricket gives young American players a real pathway from junior clubs to an MLC contract, one that didn't exist ten years ago.

Cricket's return at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Cricket returns to the Olympics in 2028 after 128 years away, played as a six-team T20 tournament for men and women at a temporary venue in Pomona. The US qualifies automatically as host. That fact alone changes how American funding bodies, schools and media treat the sport.

Increased media coverage and digital streaming

Streaming has done what cable never could. Willow TV, ESPN+ and international broadcasters carry MLC and international matches on demand. Cricket doesn't need a network deal to reach American fans. It just needs an internet connection.

 

What's still stopping cricket from becoming mainstream?

Competition from the NFL, NBA, MLB and MLS

America's sports calendar is packed and fiercely defended. The NFL commands attention most countries reserve for their entire sporting culture. Cricket is fighting for slices of attention four other leagues already own.

Limited awareness among American-born fans

Ask an average American-born fan to explain LBW, and you'll mostly get silence. T20's shorter format helps, but there's still an education gap broadcasters haven't fully closed.

Governance challenges within USA Cricket

USA Cricket, the sport's national governing body, has been through public disputes and friction with ACE and MLC. Professionalizing a sport needs stable governance underneath it, and cricket in America hasn't always had that.

Infrastructure is improving but still limited

Ten stadiums by 2030 sounds ambitious next to the thousands of baseball diamonds already scattered across American towns. Most American cricket is still played on shared or temporary grounds. Real infrastructure takes a decade to build, and cricket is only a few years in.

 

Can cricket ever become one of America's biggest sports?

What needs to happen over the next decade

MLC needs a credible path to profit without diaspora ownership money propping it up forever. USA Cricket needs governance stable enough for sponsors to trust long term. And the Olympics need to convert a 2028 spike into fans who stick around once the Games end.

Realistically, cricket doesn't need to beat football or basketball. It needs to reach the tier MLS occupies: commercially viable, with a passionate base, without dethroning anyone.

Is the current growth sustainable?

Probably, but not guaranteed. Ticket sales, broadcast reach and investment dollars all point the same direction, but none of it is at a scale where cricket can survive without continued outside backing.

The Olympics is the pressure test. If LA 2028 draws in casual viewers the way 2024 did, growth becomes structural. If the bump fades before profitability arrives, it stays confined to the communities already following the sport.

 

USA cricket vs traditional cricket nations

Category	India	Australia	England	USA
Professional league	IPL, world's richest T20 league	Big Bash League, since 2011	The Hundred, County cricket	MLC, launched 2023
Participation	Hundreds of millions	Top-tier national sport	School and club culture	Diaspora-led, growing youth base
Stadiums	Dozens, many 50,000+	Purpose-built nationwide	Historic grounds, Lord's, The Oval	Temporary venues, ten planned by 2030
TV audience	Largest cricket audience on Earth	Strong domestic base	Domestic and Commonwealth	90+ countries, small domestic base
Youth development	Vast academy system	Pathway to Big Bash	County age-group systems	New academies, early stage
Growth potential	Already the global center	Stable, mature	Stable, mature	Highest ceiling, lowest base

 

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Is cricket really growing in the USA? Final verdict

Cricket is unquestionably growing in the United States, but it has not yet become a mainstream American sport. Major League Cricket, expanding youth participation, dedicated stadiums and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics have created genuine momentum. The next five to ten years will determine whether this growth becomes permanent or remains concentrated within existing cricket-loving communities.

 

FAQs

Is cricket popular in the USA?

It's popular within South Asian and Caribbean communities, and growing among a wider audience thanks to MLC and the 2024 World Cup. Not yet mainstream like the NFL or NBA.

Why is cricket growing in America?

A rising South Asian population, MLC's investment and star signings, new youth academies, and the sport's return to the 2028 Olympics.

What is Major League Cricket?

The only ICC-sanctioned professional T20 franchise league in the US, launched in 2023 with six city-based franchises.

Will cricket be in the 2028 Olympics?

 Yes, after 128 years away, as a six-team T20 tournament for both men and women.

Which US cities have the biggest cricket fan base?

New York/New Jersey, Dallas and Houston in Texas, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and South Florida.

Can cricket compete with baseball in America?

Not directly, and it probably shouldn't try. Its realistic goal is carving out space the way MLS did with soccer, not displacing baseball's century-old footing.