Pomona To Host Cricket At Los Angeles Olympics, As Hopes Dashed For Rival Cities

Cricket’s long-awaited Olympic return is taking shape with a temporary venue in Pomona, 30 miles east of Los Angeles, to stage the six-team competitions at the 2028 Games.

After much intrigue, as numerous cities expressed interest in hosting the cricket events, the LA28 organizing committee announced that the site will be at the Fairgrounds, officially known as Fairplex, which is a 500-acre complex that has hosted the Los Angeles County Fair since 1922.

“Although cricket is a hugely popular sport, it will be a fantastic opportunity to expand traditional boundaries when it features in the Olympics in the fast-paced, exciting T20 format that should appeal to new audiences,” International Cricket Council chair Jay Shah said.

It comes on the back of last week’s announcement that cricket will feature six teams each in the men’s and women’s T20 competitions in Los Angeles. A total of 90 athlete quotas have been allocated for each gender in cricket, which means every team can name a 15-member squad.

ForbesSix-Team Cricket Bracket Set For Los Angeles Olympics, But Unknowns RemainBy Tristan Lavalette

Cricket’s Olympic comeback – having only been played previously at the 1900 Games – will be in Los Angeles after much speculation that it would be played outside of Southern California, possibly on the east coast to better suit the large television audience in South Asia.

There were a number of cities hoping to play host. The splashy unveiling of the iconic Oakland Coliseum as a venue for the upcoming Major League Cricket season naturally linked it with the Olympics.

Cricket administrators in Seattle had also been keen, despite not yet having built the requisite infrastructure for the Orcas, the city’s MLC side.

There is some pessimism over whether cricket can build a post Olympic legacy in the U.S. – the sport’s target market – given that the Pomona venue will be a makeshift venue.

It is reminiscent of New York’s pop-up cricket stadium that was built within a few months for last year’s T20 World Cup matches. The $30 million modular stadium in Long Island was torn down immediately after the tournament with the city’s MLC franchise yet to have a home ground.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the owner of MI New York, reportedly has plans to build a world-class facility in the famous city.

The back-to-back announcements has shone considerably light on the competitions, but how the teams qualify has yet to be determined and will be up to cricket’s governing body.

It has been mooted that Olympic spots would be allocated to the top six in the men’s and women’s T20 rankings at a cut-off date. The U.S. as host nation are likely to get an automatic slot although possibly in just one gender.

Some influential administrators are pushing for qualifying tournaments. “If you look at the other major sports, the qualifying tournaments are so exciting and adds so much drama,” ICC board director Tavengwa Mukuhlani, who has been part of the ICC’s Olympic working group since late 2020, told me last year.

“It’s fairer, with every country having to fight for their place in the Olympics.”

It is not known when the ICC will make a decision on the qualifying issue.