The ninth edition of the ICC T20 World Cup, an international cricket tournament, is now underway. Matches are taking place in the West Indies and the United States, which is co-hosting the tournament for the first time. A lot of eyes are on the India v. Pakistan Sunday match in New York. It’s being billed an historic match since it will be the first time the two neighboring nations will play against each other in the U.S. Both teams have won the T20 World Cup once.
One professor at the George Washington University says the sport of cricket has exploded in popularity in the States, with more investment pouring into media rights and youth development.
Lisa Delpy Neirotti is the director of the MS in Sport Management Program and an associate professor of Sport Management at the GW School of Business. She has been a professor of sport, event, and tourism management GW for more than 30 years. She also the GW Green Sports Scorecard to help increase the sustainability of sport facilities, organizations and events, and serves on the faculty of the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Master's In Management of Sports Organizations (MEMOS). Beyond her responsibilities at GW, Dr. Delpy Neirotti works with a number of sport event organizations, sponsors, and professional teams to conduct economic and market research studies including the Olympic Games, World Cup, and College Football Bowl Games, among others. Since 1984, she has attended 21 consecutive Olympic Games, 5 World Cups, and hundreds of other major sport events as a consultant, volunteer or researcher.
Delpy Neirotti shares a couple of her thoughts and analysis on the growth of cricket:
- “Cricket is exploding in the United States fueled by a growing population of South Asians and other cultures (primarily former British Colonies), where cricket is a national sport. Furthermore, there is significant money in cricket and the IOC has recognized its value by adding it to the 1928 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.”
- “The Indian Premier League sold media rights for $6.02 billion for five years, which puts the IPL among the highest-ranked sport leagues alongside the NFL in the US and the English Premier League in cost-per-match terms.”
- “The number of cricket-specific facilities being developed and youth playing cricket in the U.S. is also increasing with over 200,000 current participants playing in 400 local programs.”
- “Cricket was popular in U.S. (a national pastime) before the Civil War and the rise of baseball.”
If you would like to speak with Prof. Delpy Neirotti, please contact GW Senior Media Relations Specialist Cate Douglass at [email protected].
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