The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics committee is contemplating on hosting the cricket matches on the East Coast to make it more convenient for the viewership in India, according to reports.
The host committee chair Casey Wasserman has spoken about the committee’s intention to maximise viewership in India for cricket matches. Cricket is returning to the Olympics after a 128-year absence. It will be played in T20 format and the Indian team would be the biggest attraction.
At the Texas Business of Sports summit in Austin, Wasserman gave the lowdown on how the committee is planning to viewership in India. If the cricket matches are moved to New York, it will have a three-hour leeway compared to the matches taking place in Los Angeles. New York is nine hours and 30 minutes behind the Indian Standard Time, while Los Angeles is 12 hours and 30 minutes behind.
New York, along with Florida, hosted T20 World Cup matches earlier this year. Wasserman, however, didn’t mention which East Coast venues they have been targeting. Cricket is not a major sport in the United States and the country has very few facilities to host matches.
All said and done, the Indian market is a reason for cricket’s inclusion at LA28. The IOC currently gets very little media revenue from India, which is expected to rise exponentially with cricket’s inclusion. According to a report in Sportico, the IOC collected around $12 million media money from India for a four-year cycle that included the 2024 Paris Games. With cricket on the roster, it could rise to $201-$268 million for the four-year LA28 cycle.