Cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympics is seen as a mutually beneficial move from both sporting and a business perspective. The Olympics provides a platform for cricket to reach a global audience and enhance its global image by leaps & bounds as compared to it currently being restricted to a few countries in the World. However, expecting cricket to match the universal appeal of football, something the sport always cherished, just because of an Olympic appearance is still early days! T20 format has definitely helped cricket to reach some hitherto unexplored corners of Africa, Europe and Latin America. But the FIFA ranking list touches 207 men’s teams and 186 women’s outfits, the numbers reveal the vast gulf between the two sports.
But, what does it mean to host an Olympic cricket event in USA?
For long, cricket remained a statistical global sport sans a true global footing. A solid fan base of 2.5 billion and an ever-swelling TV revenue formed its axis to be labelled as a sport with a worldwide appeal, second only to football. However, in reality, all of it is parked in the Commonwealth countries and even among them India alone helm around 70 percent, if not more, of those numbers.
But now, all this could change as cricket, in its T20 avatar, has made its re-entry into the Olympic fold through the 2028 edition at Los Angeles. About 20 million Asian adults live in the United States, accounting for close to 10% of the total adult population, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the 2021 American Community Survey. This population has roughly doubled since 2000, when 8.7 million Asian adults lived in the country. And more than 20% of this population is of Indian origin. The U.S. Asian population is projected to reach 46 million by 2060
An industry insider, whom the Power Sportz team contacted, said the large Asian Diaspora population in USA will have a massive influence on the commercialization of the Sport .
“It is great news (cricket in Olympics) if you are a business-person. America has a large section of Asian expats, who are crazy about cricket and they will fill the stadium and of course will follow the game on TV or streaming apps.
‘Im sure, a lot of them would be interested in associating with the sport of Cricket, in one way or the other, as it also gives a feeling of connecting back to their Indian roots!’, he said.
