(Reuters) – The International Cricket Council (ICC) has revealed a 34,000-seat modular stadium in New York on Wednesday. This stadium will host eight matches of this year’s T20 World Cup, and the ICC hopes it will help them enter the lucrative sports market in the United States.
The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York has been given the highly-anticipated June 9 match between India and Pakistan, highlighting the ICC’s desire to break into a new market.
The ICC’s Head of Events, Chris Tetley, emphasized the importance of sustainability, describing the facility as “cutting-edge” during an online media interaction.
The World Cup venue will repurpose the grandstands used for the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas and will feature drop-in pitches.
Tetley highlighted that once completed, the stadium will be larger than any cricket venue in England and even bigger than the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, which hosted the final of the 50-overs World Cup in 2011.
Tetley expressed the need to undertake such a large-scale project to make an impact in the United States, given its significant sports market. He mentioned that the US is already the ICC’s third-largest broadcast market, and they have identified at least 30 million cricket fans in the country.
With the US co-hosting the tournament with West Indies, Tetley assured a memorable experience for American fans.
He also stated that although much of the venue, including the pitches, will be removed after the World Cup, the “world-class facility” will remain for the local community to utilize.
Tetley addressed concerns about costs, indicating that much of the infrastructure is rented and not bought, making the project viable without costing the ICC anything.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Toby Davis)
