Cricket will return to the Olympic Games in 2028 after a 126-year absence, with construction beginning on a new 10,000-plus capacity stadium in Pomona, California, to host the men's and women's tournaments. The stadium is being built at the Fairplex fairgrounds in Pomona and will serve as the home of the Los Angeles Knight Riders, a Major League Cricket team owned by Mumbai-based Knight Riders Sports. Knight Riders Sports is co-led by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
The groundbreaking ceremony included a Hindu ritual called 'bhumi pujan', reflecting the cultural ties of the sport. , and investors hope that momentum from Major League Cricket will carry into the Olympics. According to Venky Mysore, CEO of Knight Riders Sports, the Pomona venue is the only stadium the company has built from scratch.
He said at a press conference that people who watch the Olympics are not necessarily cricket fans, and when cricket becomes an Olympic sport, that takes interest and awareness to the next level. —in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina—and cricket is also played in multi-purpose venues like the Oakland Coliseum. S.
will have a dedicated venue. In 2024, a high-capacity modular stadium was built for the T20 World Cup in New York but was dismantled after the event, highlighting the need for permanent infrastructure. The exact timeline for the stadium's completion remains unclear, as does the total cost and funding sources.
It is also unknown whether the venue will be used for other events after the Olympics, or how the LA Olympics will integrate cricket with other sports in terms of scheduling. The expected economic impact on Pomona has not been disclosed.