(Bloomberg) — Major League Cricket is moving its headquarters to a Dallas suburb from San Francisco as it seeks to build a US following for one of the world’s most popular sports.
This year’s playoffs and championship game will also be held at Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, the league said Thursday. The venue, located about 15 miles from downtown Dallas, is already home to one of the league’s six teams: the Texas Super Kings, which are co-owned by the Indian Premier League’s Chennai Super Kings, billionaire Ross Perot Jr. and Dallas businessman Anurag Jain.
“It’s not ‘if,’ it’s ‘how long’ it will take to establish itself,” said Johnny Grave, the league’s chief executive officer, referring to the sport’s budding fan base in the US.
The season will run just one month, from June 12 to July 13. The goal is “owning a part of the calendar,” a window for teams to bring in top overseas players when larger leagues aren’t playing, Grave said. That part of the calendar also coincides with the hot Texas summer, when temperatures can easily climb above 100 F (38 C). But the league’s stadiums will all include permanent lights to allow for night games.
Known officially as Cognizant Major League Cricket, the league is entering its third season and has teams from San Francisco to Washington. Cricket will also feature in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the first time since the Paris games in 1900.
“The sport is growing like a little mushroom,” Jain said. “The story has just begun.”
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