Multiple reports confirm that cricket has not been part of the Olympics for 126 years and will make its return in 2028. Construction has begun on a 10,000-plus capacity cricket stadium in Pomona, California, which will serve as the venue for men's and women's cricket games during the 2028 Olympics. The stadium is being built at the Fairplex fairgrounds and will be the home of the Los Angeles Knight Riders, a Major League Cricket team owned by Mumbai-based Knight Riders Sports, co-led by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. The groundbreaking included a 'bhumi pujan' ritual rooted in Hindu tradition.
Cricket is followed with religious fervor by U.S. diaspora communities, particularly from South Asia. Investors hope momentum from local major league cricket games will carry into the Olympics. The Pomona venue is the only stadium Knight Riders Sports has built from scratch. Only three international-level cricket stadiums operate in the U.S.—in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina—and cricket is also played in multi-purpose venues like the Oakland Coliseum. According to The Independent - Main, cricket journalist Peter Della Penna described this as the first time an international cricket event in the U.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.
People who watch the Olympics are not necessarily cricket fans. When cricket becomes an Olympic sport, that takes interest and awareness to the next level.
Venky Mysore, CEO of Knight Riders Sports, said at a press conference: "People who watch the Olympics are not necessarily cricket fans. When cricket becomes an Olympic sport, that takes interest and awareness to the next level."
Cricket players would want to be in the Olympic Village, walk shoulder to shoulder with U.S. track and field athletes, swimmers and basketball players. Cricketers in America have not had such prominence a