Cricket’s Olympic return in 2028 could be staged in New York – over 2,000 miles away from host city Los Angeles.
Cricket will be included at the Games in four years for the first time since its solitary appearance in 1900, but the PA news agency understands organisers are considering staging the tournament away from the heart of the the event in California.
While no formal proposals have been tabled, representatives from LA28 and the International Olympic Committee have been on a fact-finding mission at the T20 World Cup, taking in games at the Nassau County pop-up stadium in Long Island, and are understood to have been impressed.
Drawing renewed attention from large South Asian markets such as India and Pakistan is considered one of the biggest potential benefits of bringing cricket back into the Olympic movement, meaning strong local ticket sales and international time zones are contributing factors.
A 10.30am start in New York’s summer equates to a prime-time broadcast of 8pm in India, while LA operates three hours behind and offers a less obvious scheduling route.
The International Cricket Council, which worked closely with the visiting Olympic teams in New York outlining the specifics on matters such as drop-in pitches and tournament delivery, is understood to favour a venue in LA.
The ICC is believed to value being seen as a full part of the wider Games, sharing a platform with other sports and competitors while allowing participants to experience things such as the opening ceremony and life in the athletes’ village.
It is felt that the experiences of setting up and hosting a temporary cricket stadium at Nassau County would allow the blueprint to be replicated in LA. The time zone issue is also not felt to be intractable, with the possibility of floodlit pitches and evening starts possibly seeing games screened in the morning in key territories like India.
Hosting some events far away from the host city would not be a new development for the Olympics. Windsurfing at this summer’s Games in Paris is being staged in Tahiti, while the equestrian for Beijing 2008 took place in Hong Kong.
There is also precedent from LA’s last Olympic summer of 1984 when six games in the football competition were staged around 3,000 miles away in Boston.