The United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) has agreed to a $70 million licensing agreement with Global Sports Ventures LLC to bring the sport to the United States.
The agreement means a franchised Twenty20 (T20) professional league will be created in the near future, though the number of teams and home cities have yet to be determined. According to Forbes, the U.S. has the second-highest cricket viewership (more than 1.4 million people) in the world behind India.
“The professional sports landscape is a notoriously tough market to break into, but we’re confident in the strength of the consumer demand in the U.S.,” says Jignesh Pandya, the president and CEO of Global Sports Ventures. “This agreement allows us to grow the world’s second most popular sport right here in our own backyard.” — M.Q.