Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Broward County in Lauderhill, Florida and Nassau County in New York will be venues for the tournament to be staged in the USA for the first time….reports Asian Lite News
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed Dallas, Florida and New York will be the three USA venues identified to host the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Broward County in Lauderhill, Florida and Nassau County in New York will be venues for the tournament to be staged in the USA for the first time. The ICC Board awarded the hosting of the event to the West Indies and the USA in November 2021 and added the venues were selected following extensive evaluation of several options.
“We’re delighted to announce the three USA venues that will host part of the biggest ICC Men’s T20 World Cup ever staged, with 20 teams competing for the trophy. The USA is a strategically important market and these venues give us an excellent opportunity to make a statement in the world’s biggest sport market.”
“We explored a number of potential venue options in the country, and we were hugely encouraged by the enthusiasm the event generated amongst prospective hosts, reinforcing the growing awareness around cricket’s massive fanbase and its power to unite diverse communities,” said ICC CEO Geoff Allardice.
The ICC said in its statement that an agreement has been reached for the construction of a 34,000-seat modular stadium in Eisenhower Park, a purpose-built sports and events park in Nassau County, New York, on awarding of the required permit next month.
It added that it has commissioned the design and development of the venue complete with team and match official changing areas and workspaces, media and broadcast facilities, and premium hospitality areas.
The site will include a fan zone, as well as match day operations and event presentation and production infrastructure. Team training facilities will be developed on existing adjacent cricket fields and nearby cricket clubs. The work schedule will commence towards the end of January 2024 with a completion date of May 2024.
”We are very excited about the opportunity to use modular stadium technology to present world class cricket in a location that has not previously hosted an ICC global event giving USA cricket fans the chance to watch the world’s best on their doorstep.”
“This technology has been used at previous ICC events to increase venue capacity and it’s routinely used in other major sports around the world. In the USA, it will give us the opportunity to increase the size of the venues in both Dallas and Florida and create what is going to be a stunning venue in New York,” added Allardice.
Talking about the pitches creation, ICC said the development of all playing surfaces will be overseen by internationally reputed curators and local natural sports turf experts, with one of the significant legacy benefits of the project will be the improved cricket playing surfaces that will be left behind.
“Nassau County is excited to partner with the ICC to host the Men’s T20 World Cup, one of the most popular sporting events in the world. With more than one billion fans worldwide, this event will attract fans from all around the world to Eisenhower Park.”
“Whether it be PGA events, record breaking concerts in our parks, or the annual Belmont Stakes, we are no stranger to hosting large scale events on the world stage. I look forward to bringing our many diverse communities together to watch some of the best cricket in the world, right here in Nassau County,” said Bruce Blakeman, Nassau County Executive.
ICC further said the existing venues in Grand Prairie, which hosted inaugural Major League Cricket (MLC) matches and Broward County, where India has played T20Is against West Indies previously, will be increased in size by modular stadium solutions to expand seating, media and premium hospitality areas subject to final agreement, with the deadline to complete the upgrades being May 2024.
It concluded by saying a number of other venues around the USA, including George Mason University in Washington, the new home of MLC team Washington Freedom, have also been identified as potential venues for pre-event matches and training.
Ireland, Scotland and Papua New Guinea sealed their spots for the tournament through regional qualifiers, with Americas (one spot), Asia (two spots) and Africa (two spots) qualifying competitions to be held in near future.
The 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup will be hosted jointly by the West Indies and the USA. 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five each for the first round. Top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super eight stage.
In Super eight, teams will be split into two groups of four each, with top two sides from two groups entering the semi-finals. Hosts West Indies and USA, as well as Australia, defending champions England, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh have already qualified for the competition.
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