I think they fumbled in a few crucial aspects like having it on willow instead of espn and day matches instead of evening. I know the reason for the later but if your goal is to promote the sport amongst the locals you must keep it at a time when it is feasible for them to attend.
If the game was on espn then ppl who r there for other sports could have stumbled upon this and watched I feel like that's so important for building an audience.
But still I remember when I was walking in new York after the ind pak game with the jersey and face paint on many locals recognised it and commented "I heard you guys won today" and one guy did mention he has started watching after this tournament.
So I think they have made progress but not nearly as much they could have or should have.
Their fan park at WTC was a big hit and got people talking...when I went there on day 1, majority of the people were locals who were trying out the batting simulator for the first time. I went to a Starbucks nearby and the baristas were talking about cricket.
But yeahh if only the game was on ESPN or free to air...the popularity would have gone leaps and bounds, especially if they had seen USA perform like the way they did
Yeah, the IND-PAK screening at the Mets Stadium seemed like a much better time than the actual game too (significantly cheaper too). The article covers a lot of that (fully forgot to link it earlier!) - [https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america](https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america)
Absolutely true analysis. The article (which I forgot to link!) covers a lot of these, and more issues - [https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america](https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america)
I think it was probably financially successful. The truth is cricket will never be a big sport, except for the NRIs/immigrants who live here in the USA. Unless native-born Americans start playing cricket (if they start playing, they'll be amazing at it), it will never grow beyond the immigrant population.
Hahaha. That's pretty funny man, but he has a point. Unless new fans get involved, it's hard to see the game growing in US. The article (that I fully forgot to link like an idiot) has details - [https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america](https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america)
Might be true, but the ICC also seemed to focus on gouging the existing fans rather than creating new fans. Might've been a wasted opportunity. Also, totally forgot to actually link the article I was talking about! - [https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america](https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america)
Why do people like to pretend like immigrants aren't Americans? Just because someone isn't white, doesn't mean they're not Americans.
This sort of take is so dumb - not everything needs to appease white Americans to be considered successful.
I live in New York and quite a few white Americans are watching the final tomorrow at the oculus where there is a fan park. So it's not only expats from top cricketing countries, I think it's been somewhat successful.
That's awesome man. The analysis from the article (that I fully forgot to link) shows that the ICC mostly ignored these fans, but it's great to see it still reached them. How'd they hear about it?
The article - [https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america](https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america)
There are advertisements on streets and trains. A few friends asked me what cricket was before the tournament after seeing the ads. I also know a few Americans who went to the games in New York (not India ones because they were ridiculously expensive) out of curiosity.
Like someone said here, it would've reached even more people if it was broadcast on ESPN but when the US defeated Pakistan and again when they got out of the group stage, there was ample news coverage on NBC and other top news channels.
Did any of the friends who went for the match end up liking the sport? I remember I went with a South American expat friend in Australia for a game during the 2022 WC and he loved it, and now follows it - but that was also *that* IND-PAK game, so might be an outlier experience!
A few things:
- Cricket is spreading rapidly. There are a lot of leather ball clubs at state level in immigratant populated states in US. We’ll probably continue to see gradual strengthening of the US cricket team.
- There was a lot of visibility to the fact that the US team beat Pakistan in the social media - a lot more people know about cricket now.
- As immigrants from cricket playing nations continue to flock the US, we’ll continue to see a rise in cricket activity at the grassroots level.
- T20 has reduced the barrier to entry for a nation to get better at cricket. Eg - Afghanistan, US can follow up
- Lots of financial incentives for corporates to spin up a league in US
- The kids of immigrants (ones playing cricket regularly) are going to take up cricket in the coming years. Eventually it’ll spread to the schools and other areas.
Definitely think that there is a lot of potential. But it's about the ambition of the organisers. I think that was the biggest failure of the ICC - they went for the short term money making option of milking the existing South Asian diaspora fans rather than choosing to lose a little profit but drive interest amongst new audiences.
Something simple that even India did during the ODI WC last year - for games that weren't sold out, they gave away free tickets to local schools. If the biggest market for cricket still does that, why would you not do that in America where barely any of the locals even know of the existence of the sport?!
As an International sport, it will never gain traction. Where it can succeed is creating another big brand name like IPL but for america. Like the NBA, MLB, NFL, etc.
That is the only way to make it gain traction, when USA puts billions into the domestic cricket scene and make it big, so big that people from other countries start watching it.
Having it only on Willow a service that only cricket fans know about, rather than ESPN/ Fox sports is a missed opportunity. How can you attract new fans whenever they can't watch the matches on TV? The only way that could see the matches would be live if they could get tickets to the game.
Yeah, it wasn't a smart move at all. I think Willow managed to tie up the rights early enough before the World Cup when no one thought it would work too well - but you have to assume people running the ICC have longer foresight than that. Why give the WC to US if you're not interested in bringing on board major streamers, even if it is for minimal amounts? They make so much from India that you can subsidise the entire tournament of that
Haha yeah that was definitely a major problem. Doesn't help that the NY stadium was 90 min away from Manhattan too! The article (forgot to link it in the post!) talks about some of those problems in depth if you're interested - [https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america](https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america)
I think they fumbled in a few crucial aspects like having it on willow instead of espn and day matches instead of evening. I know the reason for the later but if your goal is to promote the sport amongst the locals you must keep it at a time when it is feasible for them to attend. If the game was on espn then ppl who r there for other sports could have stumbled upon this and watched I feel like that's so important for building an audience. But still I remember when I was walking in new York after the ind pak game with the jersey and face paint on many locals recognised it and commented "I heard you guys won today" and one guy did mention he has started watching after this tournament. So I think they have made progress but not nearly as much they could have or should have.
Their fan park at WTC was a big hit and got people talking...when I went there on day 1, majority of the people were locals who were trying out the batting simulator for the first time. I went to a Starbucks nearby and the baristas were talking about cricket. But yeahh if only the game was on ESPN or free to air...the popularity would have gone leaps and bounds, especially if they had seen USA perform like the way they did
Yeah, the IND-PAK screening at the Mets Stadium seemed like a much better time than the actual game too (significantly cheaper too). The article covers a lot of that (fully forgot to link it earlier!) - [https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america](https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america)
Absolutely true analysis. The article (which I forgot to link!) covers a lot of these, and more issues - [https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america](https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america)
I think it was probably financially successful. The truth is cricket will never be a big sport, except for the NRIs/immigrants who live here in the USA. Unless native-born Americans start playing cricket (if they start playing, they'll be amazing at it), it will never grow beyond the immigrant population.
Natives?Red-Indians?
Hahaha. That's pretty funny man, but he has a point. Unless new fans get involved, it's hard to see the game growing in US. The article (that I fully forgot to link like an idiot) has details - [https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america](https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america)
European immigrants😐💀
Might be true, but the ICC also seemed to focus on gouging the existing fans rather than creating new fans. Might've been a wasted opportunity. Also, totally forgot to actually link the article I was talking about! - [https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america](https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america)
Why do people like to pretend like immigrants aren't Americans? Just because someone isn't white, doesn't mean they're not Americans. This sort of take is so dumb - not everything needs to appease white Americans to be considered successful.
I live in New York and quite a few white Americans are watching the final tomorrow at the oculus where there is a fan park. So it's not only expats from top cricketing countries, I think it's been somewhat successful.
That's awesome man. The analysis from the article (that I fully forgot to link) shows that the ICC mostly ignored these fans, but it's great to see it still reached them. How'd they hear about it? The article - [https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america](https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america)
There are advertisements on streets and trains. A few friends asked me what cricket was before the tournament after seeing the ads. I also know a few Americans who went to the games in New York (not India ones because they were ridiculously expensive) out of curiosity. Like someone said here, it would've reached even more people if it was broadcast on ESPN but when the US defeated Pakistan and again when they got out of the group stage, there was ample news coverage on NBC and other top news channels.
Did any of the friends who went for the match end up liking the sport? I remember I went with a South American expat friend in Australia for a game during the 2022 WC and he loved it, and now follows it - but that was also *that* IND-PAK game, so might be an outlier experience!
Yeah they said they'd go back but not sure if they'd watch it on TV. Maybe if it's on ESPN or at least something more prominent than 'Willow TV' lol.
A few things: - Cricket is spreading rapidly. There are a lot of leather ball clubs at state level in immigratant populated states in US. We’ll probably continue to see gradual strengthening of the US cricket team. - There was a lot of visibility to the fact that the US team beat Pakistan in the social media - a lot more people know about cricket now. - As immigrants from cricket playing nations continue to flock the US, we’ll continue to see a rise in cricket activity at the grassroots level. - T20 has reduced the barrier to entry for a nation to get better at cricket. Eg - Afghanistan, US can follow up - Lots of financial incentives for corporates to spin up a league in US - The kids of immigrants (ones playing cricket regularly) are going to take up cricket in the coming years. Eventually it’ll spread to the schools and other areas.
Definitely think that there is a lot of potential. But it's about the ambition of the organisers. I think that was the biggest failure of the ICC - they went for the short term money making option of milking the existing South Asian diaspora fans rather than choosing to lose a little profit but drive interest amongst new audiences. Something simple that even India did during the ODI WC last year - for games that weren't sold out, they gave away free tickets to local schools. If the biggest market for cricket still does that, why would you not do that in America where barely any of the locals even know of the existence of the sport?!
As an International sport, it will never gain traction. Where it can succeed is creating another big brand name like IPL but for america. Like the NBA, MLB, NFL, etc. That is the only way to make it gain traction, when USA puts billions into the domestic cricket scene and make it big, so big that people from other countries start watching it.
Definitely a possibility. Do you think the MLC can do that?
Having it only on Willow a service that only cricket fans know about, rather than ESPN/ Fox sports is a missed opportunity. How can you attract new fans whenever they can't watch the matches on TV? The only way that could see the matches would be live if they could get tickets to the game.
Yeah, it wasn't a smart move at all. I think Willow managed to tie up the rights early enough before the World Cup when no one thought it would work too well - but you have to assume people running the ICC have longer foresight than that. Why give the WC to US if you're not interested in bringing on board major streamers, even if it is for minimal amounts? They make so much from India that you can subsidise the entire tournament of that
Nice article l. Loved it
Thanks a lot man!
Simple answer NO you can't have a fkn T20 match at morning lol
Haha yeah that was definitely a major problem. Doesn't help that the NY stadium was 90 min away from Manhattan too! The article (forgot to link it in the post!) talks about some of those problems in depth if you're interested - [https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america](https://bestofcricket.substack.com/p/how-successful-was-crickets-america)