Star-studded US T20 League announced

[Viki_J]

:hysterical: Since the dawn of time. Hopefully this it it. :hysterical:

:haha::haha:

[psrb4u]

That's very good for cricket to get popularity in the US.

[Ultimate_Game]

That's very good for cricket to get popularity in the US.

It won't. Even soccer isn't that popular even though soccer world cup was held there. Cricket will never crack the US market.

[The Outsider]

It won't. Even soccer isn't that popular even though soccer world cup was held there. Cricket will never crack the US market.

Soccer is definitely not in the top 5 followed sports in the US, but with the WC, increasing coverage, and better players in their league it has improved it's popularity by quite a bit (haven't checked any numbers, just going by experience). Around NYC/NJ every major park has some soccer match being played on weekends if you go out for a stroll. That was certainly not the case 10-12 years back. Not saying that cricket will even come close to that, just pointing out my observation on football.

[Ultimate_Game]

Soccer is definitely not in the top 5 followed sports in the US, but with the WC, increasing coverage, and better players in their league it has improved it's popularity by quite a bit (haven't checked any numbers, just going by experience). Around NYC/NJ every major park has some soccer match being played on weekends if you go out for a stroll. That was certainly not the case 10-12 years back. Not saying that cricket will even come close to that, just pointing out my observation on football.

Yup soccer has a bit of fan following but it's treated more as a kids & women'd/girl's sport and US' women soccer team is more widely followed than the men's team. Every sport in US has its own season and it's tough to break that monopoly. E.g., MLB (Baseball) in summer from May to October, NFL (Football) in fall/winter from September to Feb, NHL (Hockey) in winter, NBA (Basketball) in spring/summer etc. These are the top 4 sports in US. On top of these there's also Golf with majors having a huge following, Tennis, Lacrosse, soccer etc. Plus I'm not even going into college sports like NCAA or college basketball/March Madness. There's simply no room for another sport to make a mark.

[The Outsider]

^ You got me wrong in terms of cricket or football wielding an influence where they would be able to replace any of the top 5 American sports. I was making my point from the uninterested audience. Football's (Soccer's) popularity hasn't taken away anything from the top 5 sports, but has still grown because of an increasing Hispanic population and the fact that they did not have a traditional sport to identify with earlier. Similarly, cricket has no hope of breaking into a top list of American sports but there is still a lot of untapped market from subcontinent immigrants who enjoy the game and have never adopted an American sport on a day to day basis. That's the market and growth potential and in terms of the average spending power of Indians in the US it's still a substantial and growing untapped market.

[Ultimate_Game]

^ You got me wrong in terms of cricket or football wielding an influence where they would be able to replace any of the top 5 American sports. I was making my point from the uninterested audience. Football's (Soccer's) popularity hasn't taken away anything from the top 5 sports, but has still grown because of an increasing Hispanic population and the fact that they did not have a traditional sport to identify with earlier. Similarly, cricket has no hope of breaking into a top list of American sports but there is still a lot of untapped market from subcontinent immigrants who enjoy the game and have never adopted an American sport on a day to day basis. That's the market and growth potential and in terms of the average spending power of Indians in the US it's still a substantial and growing untapped market.

For that to happen Indian players are a must. I doubt any of the folks from sub-continent of Indian origin will follow a T20 league without Indian stars. Between it's only the generation which moved to US who doesn't follow US sports, the next generation surely does. Case in point Sanjay Lal who's actually the receivers coach of NY Jets in NFL. Kids growing up in US follow NFL, NBA etc. quite passionately and Canadian desis are big NHL fans.

[The Outsider]

For that to happen Indian players are a must. I doubt any of the folks from sub-continent of Indian origin will follow a T20 league without Indian stars. Between it's only the generation which moved to US who doesn't follow US sports' date=' the next generation surely does. Case in point Sanjay Lal who's actually the receivers coach of NY Jets in NFL. Kids growing up in US follow NFL, NBA etc. quite passionately and Canadian desis are big NHL fans.[/quote'] Yeah, Indian players will certainly help, but if there is a cricket match going on within 10-20 miles with Lee for $10, I won't mind popping in. Regarding your second point, I think you are taking exceptions to generalize. I have had close associations with 4 different universities with substantial Indian population over the last 12 years and am yet to see an Indian feature in the starting line up of a Football or Basketball game.

[Executioner]

And I dont think SC people in US have much interest in cricket

[Ultimate_Game]

Yeah, Indian players will certainly help, but if there is a cricket match going on within 10-20 miles with Lee for $10, I won't mind popping in. Regarding your second point, I think you are taking exceptions to generalize. I have had close associations with 4 different universities with substantial Indian population over the last 12 years and am yet to see an Indian feature in the starting line up of a Football or Basketball game.

Desis won't feature in basketball and football teams but the next generation does follow them more than cricket. And I am not talking about folks who come to US for studying or work but the next generation who was born there - likes of Bobby Jindal.

[The Outsider]

Desis won't feature in basketball and football teams but the next generation does follow them more than cricket. And I am not talking about folks who come to US for studying or work but the next generation who was born there - likes of Bobby Jindal.

Yeah, university teams invariably derive from undergraduates and 90% of Indian undergraduates are second generation. For instance at Berkeley, the percentage of Asian plus South Asian students is close to 50-55% with Indians being around 15% and I never saw an Indian feature in their football or basketball team.

[Ultimate_Game]

Yeah' date=' university teams invariably derive from undergraduates and 90% of Indian undergraduates are second generation. For instance at Berkeley, the percentage of Asian plus South Asian students is close to 50-55% with Indians being around 15% and I never saw an Indian feature in their football or basketball team.[/quote'] As I said Indans won't feature in the teams but they follow those sports much more than cricket. Same with Canadian desis and NHL - the ones born in Canada prefer NHL to cricket and are only bothered in case there's WC or Ind-Pak game.

[The Outsider]

As I said Indans won't feature in the teams but they follow those sports much more than cricket. Same with Canadian desis and NHL - the ones born in Canada prefer NHL to cricket and are only bothered in case there's WC or Ind-Pak game.

That's fine, but they do understand the rules of the game and are aware of the main players and traditional rivalries. That's a decent enough backdrop for a certain percentage of them being willing to pay $10-20 to watch Lee or Gilchrist in action in their neighborhood.

[yoda]

And I dont think SC people in US have much interest in cricket

:giggle:

[yoda]

San Francisco :yay:

[Executioner]

:giggle:

Dude, we SC people grew up watching cricket and thus the craze for cricket. The SC people in US grew up playing and watching other sports so they wont know about the beauty of cricket...whilst many will find it boring

[CSK Fan]

Star studded? Must mean Afridi. Yep, there he is

[Executioner]

^^ afridi gonna leave halfway through the tournament because of personal issues.

[Crookbond]

Franchise process for US pro league to start this month

The promoters of the first professional US Twenty20 league will begin the tender process for the six inaugural franchises later this month. The league - staged by Cricket Holdings America, a joint venture headed by the USA Cricket Association and New Zealand Cricket - is likely to be held in June and July 2013 with reports suggesting the matches will be played in New York and San Francisco. The first season, reports suggest, will be played primarily in New York and San Francisco. New York has thriving West Indian and South Asian immigrant populations, particularly in Brooklyn and Queens, while the San Francisco Bay Area includes Silicon Valley, where thousands of South Asians have immigrated over the years for work in the software and technology industries.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/usa/content/current/story/580318.html

[carnish]

6 teams and Two Veneus .. Looks like heading down in SLPL manner. I dont think there will be many takers. But then again free visas for Pakistanis.