The International Cricket Council (ICC) unveiled a 34,000-seat modular stadium in New York on Wednesday to host eight matches of this year’s T20 World Cup, with the sport’s governing body hoping the facility will help it crack the lucrative sports market in the United States .
The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York was graced with a sensational match on 9 June between India and Pakistan, the most anticipated contest of the tournament, underscoring the ICC’s eagerness to break into a new market.
Sustainability would be a key feature of the “state-of-the-art” facility, ICC head of events Chris Tetley said during an online interaction with select media.
The World Cup venue would convert the grandstands used for the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas and feature a drop-in pitch.
When completed, he said, it would be bigger than any cricket venue in England and even bigger than the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, which hosted the 2011 50-over World Cup final.
“I think we need to do something on this scale to have an impact in a country like the US with the sports market that it has,” Tetley said.
“It is a clearly defined target market for the ICC. As we all know, it is the biggest sports market in the world.
“It’s already our third largest broadcast market and we’ve identified at least 30 million cricket fans in the US.”
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The USA is co-hosting the tournament with the West Indies and Tetley promised an unforgettable experience for American fans.
While much of the venue, including the pitches, will be removed after the World Cup, the “world-class facilities” will remain for the local community, Tetley said.
With much of the infrastructure leased and not bought, Tetley played down cost concerns.
“It’s safe to say that it’s more than paying for itself and that’s why it’s a viable project for us to run without costing the ICC anything.”
