With cricket being included in LA28 Olympics, the organisers are looking out for potential venues for the matches, where New York has emerged as the top contender. The 2028 Summer Olympics will be held in the United States of America, where Los Angeles is labeled as the host city. However, the lack of cricketing facilities, have forced the organisers to search for venues in different cities such as Dallas and Florida, where New York gets a headstart, given the city held successful ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 matches at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. Los Angeles Olympics 2028 to Allow Only Six Teams in Cricket Per Gender, Qualification Criteria Yet to be Confirmed: Report.
As reported by Cricbuzz, the LA28 committee are looking for options that could ensure viewership from the subcontinent, in particular India, which brings in all the numbers for broadcasters. With the time difference between LA and India being 12 hours and 30 minutes, all the matches will be broadcast in the early morning slot in the Indian subcontinent, resulting in poor viewership, while in the USA it would occur during the primetime slot.
However, if matches are held in New York, fans will see matches around 08:00 PM Indian Standard Time (IST) in the Indian subcontinent, bringing in viewership from the region. All matches of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 followed the same pattern, where matches in New York started at 10:30 local time, and were viewed in India during the night.
Dallas and Florida have venues like Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium and Fort Lauderdale, respectively, unlike New York where a makeshift stadium needs to be erected. Interestingly, Kolkata Knight Riders are building a stadium in LA, which could eventually be an option as well.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 22, 2024 05:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).