The USA leg of the 2024 T20 World Cup will be hosted in New York, Texas and Florida, following inspections that were conducted earlier this year, the ICC has announced.
While Grand Prairie (in Dallas, Texas) and Broward County (Lauderhill, Florida) already have existing infrastructure to host games, the ICC will increase the stadium capacity at both venues.
As for Nassau County in New York, the ICC has said that an agreement has been reached to construct a 34,000-seat modular stadium.
Morrisville in North Carolina – which also hosted Major League Cricket games alongside Grand Prairie – was not selected after making the initial shortlist.
Even for New York, the Van Cortlandt Park in the borough of Bronx within New York City was initially under consideration, but the ICC has now opted for a new venue.
Eisenhower Park, which will house the new stadium, is 30 miles east of the borough of Manhattan, located on the outskirts of New York City.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to use modular stadium technology to present world class cricket in a location that has not previously hosted an ICC global event giving USA cricket fans the chance to watch the world’s best on their doorstep,” ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice said.
“This technology has been used at previous ICC events to increase venue capacity and is routinely used in other major sports worldwide.
In the USA, it will allow us to increase the size of the venues in both Dallas and Florida and create what is going to be a stunning venue in New York.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman was confident in New York providing a successful fan experience at the T20 World Cup.
“Whether it be PGA events, record-breaking concerts in our parks, or the annual Belmont Stakes, we are no stranger to hosting large scale events on the world stage,” he said.
The 2024 T20 World Cup will be the first of eight men’s global events in the ICC’s next commercial cycle from 2024-31, which was finalised in 2021.
The decision to appoint the USA as a co-host alongside the West Indies was part of a strategic move by the ICC with two goals in mind: firstly, the North American market was identified as a strong market for growth of the game, and secondly, the ICC’s ambition to have cricket feature in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games (LA28).
The format for the 2024 World Cup will be different to the last two editions (2020-21 in the UAE and 2022 in Australia), where Super 12s followed the first round.
Next year, the 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five each for the first round, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the Super 8s.
The Super 8 teams will be split into two groups of four each, with the top two in each group reaching the semi-finals. (ESPNcricinfo)
