For most Americans, cricket remains one of those sports they have heard about but rarely experienced. Yet around the world, it is anything but niche. Cricket is followed by billions of fans across South Asia, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Caribbean, and parts of Africa, making it the world’s second-most watched sport after soccer. India rules the world of commercial cricket with its huge television audiences and celebtrity owners of major franchises.
That global popularity is beginning to find a permanent home in Southern California.
The Los Angeles Knight Riders, one of six franchises in Major League Cricket (MLC), have opened the Knight Riders Cricket Ground at Fairplex in Pomona, California . It is the team’s first purpose-built stadium after spending its first three seasons playing on temporary fields. More importantly, it represents a milestone in the growth of professional cricket in the United States, just two years before cricket returns to the Olympic Games at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
For newcomers, cricket can be thought of as another bat-and-ball sport, sharing some broad similarities with baseball but played on a much larger oval field with different rules, scoring, and strategy. While unfamiliar to many Americans, it is a sport that commands extraordinary passion across much of the world. Major international matches routinely attract television audiences that rival or exceed the biggest events in American sports.
The Pomona venue reflects growing confidence that cricket can build a lasting audience in the United States. Constructed in just over 100 days, the facility required moving roughly 32,000 metric tons of earth to create a field spanning approximately 200,000 square feet—significantly larger than a baseball diamond or football field. Additional construction phases are planned, including a dedicated training center and further upgrades ahead of the 2028 Olympics.
The investment is part of a broader strategy by Major League Cricket to establish permanent venues and develop local fan communities rather than relying on temporary facilities. California, with its large Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi , Caribbean, British, Australian, and other international communities, offers one of the country’s strongest foundations for growing the sport. At the same time, organizers hope to introduce cricket to entirely new audiences who may be watching for the first time.
The Knight Riders organization is particularly well positioned to lead that effort. Its ownership group operates successful professional teams in India, the Caribbean, and the United Arab Emirates, making it one of cricket’s best-known global brands. The Pomona stadium is the first cricket venue the group has built entirely from the ground up, underscoring its long-term commitment to the American market.
The stadium has already hosted its first professional Major League Cricket match, with the Washington Freedom defeating the Los Angeles Knight Riders. While the home team fell short on the scoreboard, the game’s larger significance extended well beyond the result. It demonstrated that Southern California now has a permanent venue capable of hosting professional cricket at an international standard.
For Los Angeles, the timing could not be better. The city is preparing to welcome the world for the 2028 Olympic Games, where cricket will make its first Olympic appearance since 1900. Having a dedicated professional venue, an established franchise, and a growing local fan base gives Southern California an opportunity to become the center of cricket’s American expansion.
Whether cricket ultimately becomes a mainstream U.S. sport remains to be seen. But with permanent infrastructure, international investment, Olympic visibility, and one of the world’s largest sports markets embracing the game, the foundations are now firmly in place. The opening of the Knight Riders Cricket Ground is more than a new stadium—it is a sign that cricket’s long-awaited American chapter has truly begun.
