Cricket competitions of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games could take place on the East Coast of United States in order to cater to the massive audience in India and also tap into the huge domestic market of the sport in the host country, according to the host committee chair Casey Wasserman. Cricket will be making a re-entry into the Olympic roster after 128 years in the T20 format and though the venues have yet to be confirmed, it is likely the men’s and women’s competitions would take place on the East Coast because of the more favourable time zone compared to the West Coast for Indian viewers.
New York, on the East Coast, hosted several preliminary-round matches of the T20 World Cup earlier this year, which it co-hosted with the West Indies.
The East Coast is nine-and-a-half hours behind India and the country’s viewers can catch the action live, but Los Angeles is 12-and-a-half hours behind which could be detrimental from a viewership point.
Wasserman said during a Business of Sports Summit in Austin, Texas, that the LA28 organisers would like to maximise cricket viewership in India, according to website ‘sportico.com’.
Wasserman, who headed the successful LA28 bid and became president of the Organizing Committee, wasn’t specific about which venue on the East Coast could host cricket matches.
Cricket is among six sports, along with baseball, softball, flag football, squash and lacrosse, added to the LA28 Olympic roster. It was in the Olympic Games once before, in 1900.
It is likely that pre-existing infrastructure could be used to achieve “more than USD 150 million in savings and new revenue to help maintain a balanced budget (for the Olympics),” Wasserman has said earlier this year, according to ‘Sportico’.
The three venues that hosted the T20 World Cup in the US, which India won to break the title drought, were Dallas, Fort Lauderdale and a temporary stadium built on Long Island outside New York City.
It is not unique for host nations to organise Olympic competitions far away from the main centre. During the Paris Olympics, surfing events were held in Tahiti, sailing in Marseille, shooting in Chateauroux and soccer all across the country.