After several false starts, it seems that cricket is finally gaining some traction in the United States thanks to the T20 game.
Cricket currently relies very heavily on select tv markets to bring in the bulk of the game’s revenue.
India hold a position of prominence given that they have a large TV audience, a growing economy and a passion for cricket.
US television money is something that the cricket powers would love to get their hands on, though, although a revolution of cricket in the United States probably won’t cause very much to change in the global game.
Major League Cricket has added another franchise event to the calendar to draw select stars and may simply add to the pressure that T20 franchise cricket puts on the international game.
However, key backers of cricket in the United States still have very strong links to India if not the Board of Control for Cricket in India itself.
Major League Cricket may have attracted a far higher threshold of quality than expected but the organisers didn’t quite get their ducks in a row leading to some cricket boards refusing players permission to take part.
However, the tournament, beset by issues since its concept was first established back in 2019, has still gone ahead largely because of considerable financial backing.
The funding for the tournament has poured in with many entities keen to get in on the ground level of the cricket boom in the US.
There are still big concerns about whether or not the T20 tournament will really make inroads into US TV markets, although, the level of backing offered to the first venture suggests that there is a determination to see this through.
That said getting Major League Cricket to take off isn’t likely to be the gamechanger many in the game have long hoped it would be.
