Seattle Orcas looking to build a brand in Major League Cricket (AP Photo/LM Otero)
As the only small market in the six-team Major League Cricket, Seattle Orcas has an audacious plan to build its brand.
In a nod to the Dallas Cowboys, the world’s most profitable sports team according to Forbes, the Orcas aim to become ‘America’s Team’ in MLC – the lucrative pro T20 league that has just started a pivotal second season.
“We really are thinking about it for the long-term,” Orcas co-owner Soma Somasegar told me in a phone interview. “We are not here thinking about MLC for the next five years and just saying ‘let’s get some value and move on’.
“There is no reason why we need to restrict this to just Seattle or the Pacific Northwest.”
Much like the Seattle Sounders in Major League Soccer, whom Somasegar is part of the ownership group, the Orcas have encouraged passionate fans to get together and form the ‘Pod Squad’.
“The squad is our way of saying we’re going to get a group of people together who are excited about Seattle Orcas,” said Somasegar, who has lived in Seattle for over three decades. “And we think the ‘Pod Squad’ should exist not just in Seattle, but around the country.
“One guy from the Bay Area recently reached out to us and said that he had been watching MLC since it started. He said ‘the way you guys have been inclusive, I’m a fan of your team more than any other. I like what you’re doing and I want to be part of you’.
“So that’s what we want to do and that’s what we mean by becoming ‘America’s Team’.”
Major League Cricket is building the blocks (AP Photo/LM Otero)
While inventiveness has made the Orcas stand out so far in the fledgling competition, cementing roots in the northwest seaport city will be vital for long-term success of the franchise.
The Orcas are an outlier compared to the other franchises based in the major locales of Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington DC and Texas.
Seattle beat out Atlanta and Chicago to complete the inaugural list of teams. As I reported recently, Atlanta and Chicago are set to be part of an expanded MLC in the coming seasons, while a move into Canada is also potentially on the cards.
Parochialism is an advantage for the Orcas nestled in a relatively smaller market as underlined by the franchise being given more press coverage than its rivals. Exposure might be a bit easier for Orcas, but the hierarchy is keen to grow cricket from the ground up.
“We need to put a lot of effort into the community to not only get the right level of interest and excitement for the sport, but to also show kids that cricket can be a choice for them,” said Somasegar, a venture capitalist at Madrona Venture Group having spent 27 years working at Microsoft.
“We have this notion called ‘cricket in a box’, where we go to schools and show the basics of cricket. We’re seeing early signs of traction. Our goal is to have cricket programs in schools.
“We need to cultivate cricket throughout the year because that’s what is required for this sport to have a chance to be mainstream over a period of time.”
Like its debut season, where MLC exceeded financial expectations, the tournament is only being played in Dallas, the heartbeat of American cricket, and the more modest ground in Morrisville, North Carolina.
The Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium is the hub of American cricket (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty … [+]
There are plans amid an expanded MLC – played in a home and away format – for each franchise to have its own cricket stadium.
A home ground for the Orcas has been planned at King County’s Marymoor Park, around 15 miles from Seattle, and likely to hold about 6000-8000 fans.
It is hoped to be ready by the 2026 season and possibly become a venue for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, where cricket will make its first Olympic appearance since 1900.
“My hope is Seattle has a stadium up and running by then because we have as much potential to host Olympic (cricket) games as anyone else,” Somasegar said. “That will be another great opportunity to showcase the sport in this country.”
The Orcas are out to go one better after losing last year’s final to MI New York, but lost the rematch in the opening game of this season.
Like every other team, the Orcas have a mixture of international stars and local talent. Big names include big-hitting South Africans Heinrich Klaasen and Quinton de Kock, along with American sensation Aaron Jones who lit up the T20 World Cup.
Aaron Jones was a hero at the T20 World Cup (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
For India-born Somasegar, building the blocks of a cricket franchise in his adopted home has become a dream come true.
“I grew up with cricket and derived so much pleasure from it in my life,” he said. “The vast majority of people in the U.S. have not experienced cricket, so this is building the sport from the ground up which is exciting.
“In Seattle, we have the loudest and most passionate sports fans in the country. There are a lot of great things happening here with technology and having big global companies in our backyard.
“It’s a great place for cricket to be and it’s satisfying playing a small role in this journey.”