Why America will learn to love cricket

Demographically, there's probably a huge audience for the sport in the US.

 

An interesting read, but I can't see cricket ever gaining much popularity in the US beyond immigrants from cricket-loving nations.

Maybe soon there will be enough people in the US with South Asian roots for cricket to be more than a curiosity, but it will never be a mainstream sport, nor even approach the popularity of Liga MX.

 

Cricket and English soccer are two very different animals on US TV. Other than very high profile Twenty20 matches (ESPN2 showed the World Cup Final recently, had a pretty mediocre audience of ~200k) - ESPN won't find the time to show matches over the air. We're talking about 8 hour a day commitments for first class and one day cricket. They have room to grow the game here with their online channels via WatchESPN. They want to grow their online offerings by bringing in dedicated fans of lower profile sports like cricket, lacrosse, softball, etc...

 

The article talks about the Twenty20 matches...ESPN3 will show some India Premier League (IPL) matches, which I'll probably check out.

I don't know how popular "regular" cricket and rugby can get. I could see some folks dabbing in Twenty20 and Sevens; I wonder if that drives purists nuts, though.

 

Yes

Real cricket is only commercially successful in two countries at this point -- England and Australia. And that's only for the national side playing interesting test opponents. Club (county/provincial) cricket in those two countries is struggling to attract fans for the long form 4 day matches. They have to rely on one day and primarily Twenty20 to fill their grounds.

Another note: one thing that's difficult when trying to grow the game to new fans with Twenty20 is that it's actually harder to understand than the long form of the game. So really a fan needs to understand the concepts of the proper game before enjoying Twenty20. Simple for Indians, Sri Lankans, fans in the Caribbean -- not as much for Americans who do not grow up learning the long form of the game. International cricket is kind of painting itself in a corner with Twenty20.

 

I can't see rugby sevens getting very popular. If the problem with cricket is that it's too long, the problem with sevens is that it's too short.

I think the Rugby World Cup will be more popular with rugby-loving Americans.

 

Was over in Britain in 2008, right when the Caribbean cricket series was being started by the guy who is now in Jail (Forgot his name). All the papers were talking about how Cricket was going to be the next sport to take America by storm (was hot on the heals of Beckham to MLS mania). So how has that gone 6 years later?

I do think ESPN will continue to take an interest because of the appeal among the Indian community. It will be a bit like soccer 30 years ago, massive appeal among specific immigrant groups, but very little interest or buzz outside of that. The one difference is most immigrant cricket fans would be watching in English.

 

Yeh 7's is fun as a tournament to go to. But they are more a festival of rugby with some games going on (at least my experience) then an intense sporting event. Don't see it as great for TV. Disappointed that they went the 7's route for the Olympics.

Also agree if the Rugby world cup can get some matches on somewhat normal channels it would be big (compared to previous levels). National teams are easier to understand, and get behind. You may know nothing about Rugby but you can understand that Kiwi's and Aussies don't get along (at least on the Rugby Pitch).

 

Rugby 7's seems like a complete bastardization of the sport to me. It's like passing off 3 on 3 basketball as a legitimate version of the game - at the Olympics, no less. I'm no expert, and I'm sure I'd get a ton of disagreement, but I think Twenty20 cricket is a lot closer to spirit of the sport and is at least a proper representation. I can see it becoming a solid niche sport in the US - why not?

 

True 20/20 cricket retains all the elements of the long form of the game, but it always seems a bit like 'Home Run Derby' to me.

 

They've been showing that for at least a year.

 

The IPL was exclusively on Willow -- who are now sub-licensing some of the matches to ESPN3. It's a Spring tournament (April-June), pretty sure ESPN did not have any rights last year. They have acquired rights to West Indies, Bangladesh and New Zealand(?) home fixtures in all formats. Plus the T20 World Cup and some other domestic competitions in the Caribbean. Also showing the England-Sri Lanka ODI series in May (guessing they have the tests as well) -- that's a pretty big get for ESPN3, Willow usually gets all the series in England. They really are stepping up their offerings on ESPN3.

 

3 hours of wikipedia/youtube research later and I still don't understand this sport.

 

FIBA has been trying to get their version of 3-on-3 basketball into the Olympics:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/spor...012-08-11/three-on-three-hoops-rio/56975564/1

With the rugby world cup coming up next year, there will be plenty of articles from Commonwealth sources claiming that rugby is about to take the US by storm--the Guardian website seems to produce these anually anyway. I'm glad someone showed some creativity and wrote the same about cricket instead.

 

I thought we were talking about "real" Americans. Sure, if one is already predisposed to rugby, you'll watch something else.

But NBCSN already shows the Sevens series, and then many more people will be exposed to it by the Olympics. (Both competitions feature easy-to-understand national teams--another poster remarked about that.) I think the quickness of the Sevens game helps rather than hurts, as does the 7 players on the field. The "problem" I could see with the Union and League variants is it's like football without the forward pass, and I don't know how well the average US fan will like that. Whereas with Sevens, there seem to be greater opportunity for runners to break a long run. It's kind of like watching a wishbone offense.

Of course, the usual caveat: what the hell do I know about what the US en masse will watch.

 

I'm sure there are some rugby-loving "real" Americans out there, but I was talking about potential growth.

When did quickness ever hurt a sport?

NBC showed a few World Cup matches in 2011 and they also show the USA Sevens from Vegas.

 

Indian Premier League Cricket Schedule - ESPN3 - United States.

Sunday, Apr 27 - 10:30 am ET - Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings.
Saturday, May 3 - 10:30 am ET - Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals.
Friday, May 9 - 10:30 am ET - Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab.
Wednesday, May 14 - 10:30 am ET - Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Mumbai Indians.
Wednesday, May 21 - 10:30 am ET - Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians.
Saturday, May 24 - 6:30 am ET - Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings.
Tuesday, May 27 - 10:30 am ET - Qualifier Match #1.
Wednesday, May 28 - 10:30 am ET - Eliminator Match.
Friday, May 30 - 10:30 am ET - Qualifier Match #2.

http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-r...r-league-cricket-schedule-on-espn3-in-the-us/