The United States is currently hosting the Cricket World Cup. Making their debut in the tournament, the American team made a stunning entrance by defeating the Pakistani team, a major nation in the sport.
The extensive use of superlatives is common in the world of sports, but this time, we can safely describe the Americans’ victory as a thunderous debut in the cricket universe. The United States, which is hosting the Cricket World Cup this year, had never participated in this competition before, with only 10,000 registered players nationwide. The American team defeated Pakistan on Thursday, June 6, 2024, at the Dallas Stadium in Texas. Pakistan is one of the three nations (along with India and Australia) that account for the 120 million cricket players worldwide, making cricket the second most popular sport on the planet.
Cricket mainly attracts crowds in South Asia, the region of the world where an average of one billion viewers do not miss any World Cup matches. It is the third most-watched sporting event on the planet, behind the Olympics and the World Cup. Therefore, the first tempting and obvious prospect is that cricket can bring substantial financial gains to the United States. With the American sports market being the largest in the world, cricket can be a lucrative venture. The sport has been present in the US for centuries, with even George Washington playing it during the American Revolution and it existing during the Civil War, being the sport that gave birth to baseball.
The South Asian community is the one that has most established itself in the American territory in recent years, with a growth of 40% between 2010 and 2017, and nearly five million Americans of Indian or Pakistani origin, a reassuring consumer base for investors. Another advantage of developing cricket in the United States is soft power. Cricket diplomacy is a new example of how sports can be a tool for influence and reconciliation. In recent months, many American diplomats have tried their hand at cricket in videos posted on social media. In India and Bangladesh, this method has already proven to be effective. Today, all means are good to serve American interests in South Asia, especially when China is offering to generously finance sports events in the region.
