ICC reports surge in cricket popularity in USA following T20 World Cup

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has reported a significant surge in cricket's popularity in the United States following the T20 World Cup 2024, which featured matches held across three venues in the country.

In Texas, the Grand Prairie Stadium hosted four T20 World Cup matches, drawing over 22,000 spectators. The highlight was Team USA's historic victory over Pakistan, capturing the attention and enthusiasm of local fans.

The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York saw record-breaking attendance during key matches. A crowd of 34,028 witnessed the intense clash between India and Pakistan on June 9, where India emerged victorious in a thrilling low-scoring encounter. Another notable match at the same venue, India versus USA, attracted 31,722 fans. Overall, approximately 165,000 spectators attended matches in New York during the T20 World Cup.

ICC's Head of Events, Chris Tetley, expressed delight at the event's success in the USA, highlighting the unprecedented interest in cricket. He noted widespread media coverage from major outlets like Good Morning America and the New York Times, indicating a promising outlook for cricket's growth in the country.

“We are absolutely delighted with how the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup has gone in the USA and the unprecedented level of interest in cricket in the country,” Tetley said.

“The extraordinary levels of media coverage in the USA was also great to see from Good Morning America to the front page of the New York Times, the event was covered by all mainstream media in the USA which bodes well for our long term strategy in the USA. With the USA being a priority area of the global growth strategy, we couldn’t be happier with how the World Cup has been received on our first step into the biggest sports market in the world and we will look to build on this over the next four years towards the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 and beyondm" he further added.