T20 World Cup Coming to Historic Venues in Florida, New York and West Indies
For the first time in its history, cricket’s most celebrated global event is headed to the United States and the Caribbean in 2024 when the T20 World Cup touches down for a groundbreaking co-hosted tournament.
The blockbuster announcement from the International Cricket Council confirmed that 20 of the world’s elite national teams will clash across iconic stadiums in Florida, New York and the West Indies next year in the 9th edition of the T20 World Cup.
It will mark the first time the USA has hosted games during one of cricket’s major tournaments, while the Caribbean returns as co-hosts for the first time since the hugely successful 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.
“This is a massive moment for cricket in the USA and another brilliant opportunity to grow the game’s popularity and reach in North America,” said Paraag Marathe, chairman of the USA Cricket board. “It’s an incredible honor to be co-hosting the T20 World Cup.”
Cricket’s rapidly expanding American fan base will get to experience the explosive big-hitting and fierce national rivalries that make the 20-over format so appealing when the World Cup crosses the Atlantic for the first time.
Confirmed venues include the iconic stadiums used by MLB’s Miami Marlins and New York Mets, two of America’s biggest hotbeds for cricket fandom. Up to 14 games are slated for the US portion of the event.
“Seeing teams like India, Pakistan, England and Australia take the field at Marlins Park and Citi Field is going to be an incredible spectacle,” said Marathe. “This event is going to inspire a whole new generation of cricket fans, players and supporters at all levels in the United States.”
The West Indies, which has co-hosted three 50-over World Cups in 2007, 2010 and 2022, will likely host the marquee semi-finals and final of the T20 World Cup across its illustrious venues.
Several iconic Caribbean grounds used during previous World Cups are being evaluated, including Sabina Park in Jamaica, the National Cricket Stadium in St. Lucia, Kensington Oval in Barbados and Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago.
“The West Indies is the spiritual home of world-class T20 cricket and there is no doubt our fans will create an electric atmosphere befitting of the huge occasion,” said Ricky Skerritt, president of Cricket West Indies. “This event will leave a lasting legacy across our cricketing nations for generations to come.”
The tournament will also mark the long-awaited return of a major ICC event to the West Indies for the first time in over 12 years. Cricket officials believe the financially lucrative T20 World Cup staged across the Caribbean and United States will generate over $200 million.
“After successful showcases of our stadiums and operational capabilities during the recent ODI and T20I series against India and England, I have no doubt the West Indian cricketing public will turn out in full force to create an unforgettable spectacle,” said Skerrit.
The tournament will run through late May and early June with a round-robin group stage format that will be finalized closer to the event after the 20 participating teams have qualified. Twelve teams have already secured their spots based on ICC rankings.
The remaining eight spots will be filled through global qualifying tournaments being held across the next year, including the ODI Cricket World Cup happening in India in late 2023.
All of cricket’s traditional powers like India, Pakistan, England, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa are virtual locks to qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup. But the United States may have an opportunity to clinch an unprecedented berth into the marquee event.
With the US and West Indies serving as co-hosts, cricket’s governing body is reserving one World Cup spot for the top team from the Americas qualification tournament taking place in the spring of 2024.
“This could be cricket’s biggest breakout moment in America in over a century,” said USA Cricket chief executive Iain Higgins. “Qualifying for our first global tournament and being able to play in front of massive domestic audiences would be transformational for the sport’s growth across this country.”
The United States nearly clinched its first-ever T20 World Cup berth in the 2022 global qualifiers before cruelly being eliminated by Jersey in the semi-finals. Star all-rounder and national team captain Steven Taylor says the opportunity of playing on home soil in 2024 will provide even more motivation for the USA to seal a historic World Cup spot.
“Making the T20 World Cup has been this group’s goal for a long time. Now we would get to live out that dream not just at any World Cup, but in our own country in front of friends, fans and the US diaspora communities that bleed cricket,” said Taylor. “It would mean everything to be a part of that in 2024.”
Cricket fans in the United States have rarely had such a momentous event held on home soil. The United States last hosted matches during cricket’s biggest tournaments back in the 1994 and 1996 ODI World Cups. But those were just a handful of games staged in makeshift venues in Florida and Pennsylvania.
The 2024 event will mark the first time one of cricket’s global showpieces is truly hosted across multiple premier American and Caribbean sporting cathedrals befitting such an elite tournament.
ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said the groundbreaking co-hosting decision for 2024 was made possible by the runaway success of recent bilateral series in the United States, including high-profile tours last year by Pakistan and England. Those events sold out massive stadiums and saw broadcast viewership records shattered.
“The tremendous passion for cricket we have witnessed in the United States over recent years made it an easy decision to bring the 2024 T20 World Cup to America,” said Allardice. “When combined with hosting in the West Indies, we know this event will be an instant blockbuster.”
Organizers believe the unique cross-regional format of the 2024 tournament will exponentially raise cricket’s profile and commercial value across the Americas.
Whether it’s packed houses of passionate expat fans at Marlins Park and Citi Field, the intoxicating party atmosphere at English cricket’s spiritual home of Sabina Park, or the potential of the USA men’s national team earning its first berth onto cricket’s biggest stage, the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA has all the ingredients to be an unforgettable celebration of the game.
As Taylor said, “For American cricket, it’s going to be our moment to show the world what we’re all about. You can best believe we’re going to leave everything out on the pitch.”
