The LA28 Olympics organisers are exploring to find a suitable venue to host cricket games in the upcoming edition. Cricket is set to return to the Olympics after 128 years.
The host city of the 28 Olympic games is located in California on the West Coast of the United States. However, the cricket matches could reportedly be held on the East Coast to align the time zone with cricket fan-based countries such as India and South Asian nations.
“We’re still working through the specifics,” said Casey Wasserman, head of LA28 when asked about reports that the organizers are exploring New York as a likely alternative.
The move aims to ensure that viewers from the subcontinent, particularly the fans in India, won’t have to watch the cricket competition of the Games at inconvenient morning hours.
The time difference between Los Angeles and India is 12 hours and 30 minutes and this means a prime-time night match in LA, around 8:00 PM, would be broadcast across the Indian subcontinent.
Meanwhile, the time difference between New York and India is nine and a half hours, making it a more suitable option for scheduling.
“Unlike the other new sports, cricket presents a unique venue challenge. LA28 has been vocal about how it plans to keep costs down by utilizing existing venues, but there are very few – if any – suitable cricket venues in California. Or in the rest of the country,” said a website. “The Indian market was a critical part of cricket’s pitch to join LA28.”
It is not the first time a part of the Games is held in a place other than the host city. The Football matches, for instance, were held across France during the recent Paris Olympics. LA did the same in 1984, when it last hosted the Olympics, spreading the football matches all across the States.
Cricket returns to the Olympics after over 128 years, it was last played in 1900 in Paris. Along with cricket, Baseball, softball, flag football, squash and lacrosse are the new sports included in the LA Games.
