In many respects, the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the first major cricket tournament on U.S. soil, could be characterized as a rousing success.
Eight matches at a temporary venue in Long Island drew more than 156,000 fans in attendance, including a U.S. record 34,028 for a tilt between Pakistan and eventual champion India.
The U.S., which participated in the event for the first time, pulled off a historic upset over Pakistan, the 2017 champion. A subsequent match against top-ranked India attracted 31,219 spectators, tying up traffic from East Meadow onto the major highways into New York City.
During the first three weeks of the event, the ICC saw record engagement on its website and app, with roughly 2.7 million U.S.-based s recorded, a spike of 370% from the 2022 tournament.
But on the U.S. betting markets, major questions persist on whether the event will spur long-term interest in wagering on the sport. While FanDuel saw relatively high betting interest in the T20 World Cup, the figures are still lower than Indian Premier League matches, a company spokesperson told Sports Handle.
The questions are critical heading into the start of Major League Cricket’s second season, which begins on Friday. Backed by tech titans and leading venture capitalists, Major League Cricket counts Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen among its investors.
From a betting standpoint, though, cricket still appears on par with other niche sports such as rugby and lacrosse.
The U.S. served as a co-host for the tournament, along with several islands in the West Indies. The U.S. hosted more than a dozen matches in Florida combined.
A Growing Sport in the States 3rh30
Outside of the U.S., cricket is enormously popular. According to World Population Review, cricket ranks second behind soccer in global sports popularity with approximately 2.5 billion fans worldwide.
The rivalry between India and Pakistan is one of the most heated in all sports, hence the overflowing crowd in Long Island. Over a 10-year period through 2020, the U.S. population of Indian Americans grew by more than 50% to nearly 4.4 million, according to Axios. It’s one reason U.S. cricket may have vast growth potential over the next decade.
There are signs that the handle for the T20 World Cup grew at an exponential rate at several leading sportsbooks. With the unexpected run by the U.S., BetMGM took about five times the wagers on the tournament as the operator did two years earlier.
While the majority of leading sportsbooks already booked action on the Indian Premier League, the inclusion of the U.S. provided an opportunity to introduce new bettors to the sport.
Leading up to the Pakistan match on June 6, bettors took the U.S. on 55% of all tickets at BetMGM. Following the historic upset, customers selected the U.S. on 72% of tickets against No. 1 India, a match the Americans lost by seven wickets.
On the back of the Pakistan upset, the U.S. qualified for the Super 8 quarterfinals for the first time. Despite losses to South Africa and England in the Super 8 round-robin, the U.S. garnered from at least 66% of bettors in both matches.
USA STUNS PAKISTAN AT THE MEN’S T20 CRICKET WORLD CUP 🚨
Biggest upset in the sport's history 🤯 pic.twitter.com/V5x3QYrdWN
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 6, 2024
A host of other books, including Caesars Sportsbook, received elevated wagering on the U.S. throughout the tournament. Despite heavy odds on India, bettors took the U.S. on approximately 90% of all tickets at ESPN BET.
The patriotism toward the U.S. continued throughout the tournament, according to Caesars’ trader Mark Bickerdike, ultimately peaking in their final Super 8 fixture vs. England. In that match, a whopping 98.5% of wagers were placed on the U.S.
Bickerdike indicated that the tournament ranked as Caesars’ highest cricket event by handle. India’s victory over England in the final now ranks as Caesars’ highest single match, suring the 2024 Indian Premier League final between the Chennai Super Kings vs. the Lucknow Super Giants by 62%.
Wager totals at some books also appeared fairly high. DraftKings received separate $5,000 moneyline wagers on the U.S. to defeat Canada, Ireland, and India, a company spokesman told Sports Handle. One customer placed a $200 futures wager on the U.S. (+10000) to win the tournament. Another placed $26,542 on West Indies to defeat South Africa, a wager that lost when the South Africans prevailed by three wickets.
Stream and Bet 4w75r
Bettors also expressed an affinity for in-match wagering at several sites. Customers at Caesars took a keen interest in the quick markets that cricket provides, as evidenced by the operator’s ‘Next Over Runs Live,” market. The market at Caesars ranked as the book’s most-popular in-match offering, Bickerdike noted.
The in-game trends also proliferated at bet365, where the operator saw the bulk of cricket wagering, according to a senior trader.
Sportsbooks that design a stream-and-bet function may gain a leg up on the competition. Last fall, the NFL introduced a streaming apparatus that allowed fans to watch live games on several sportsbook apps. The function became available after engineers reportedly determined a method to significantly reduce the latency or lag time from the streaming component. ESPN, which operates a dedicated cricket site, could generate increased traffic by linking ESPN CricInfo with its digital sportsbook.
On the state level, it may be challenging to receive a gauge on the overall handle for the World Cup. None of the 38 states with legal sports betting provide a monthly breakout on cricket wagering.
Massachusetts appeared to catch onto the cricket fever, according to the operators that shared state data with Sports Handle.
#TeamUSA has made incredible strides in launching its cricket journey in the U.S. and around the world. We are so proud of the team and coaches. As a co-host of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup, the U.S. is truly a catalyst for even greater things to come. ❤️🏏… pic.twitter.com/oSe5W567IY
— USEmbassy Bridgetown (@USEmbassyBtown) June 27, 2024
As the second season of Major League Cricket begins, leading sportsbooks are cautiously optimistic that the World Cup can become a springboard for greater activity moving forward.
Patrick Jay, senior vice president and sportsbook head at ESPN BET, expects betting activity to increase over the next year, with the potential for U.S. national players to be “signed in overseas leagues that operate year-round.”
While it’s reasonable that betting interest will grow off the back of the recent tournament, bet365 anticipates that volumes will only reach the heights of the T20 World Cup when other major tournaments come around.
Fanatics Sportsbook, a newcomer to the U.S. sports betting ecosystem, did not exist when England won the World Cup in 2022. Though Fanatics received a good amount of interest in the event, only time will tell if gambling on cricket becomes entrenched among ers in the U.S.
“An impressive showing by the U.S. team is a great first step, but access to TV or streaming of other cricket events will be needed to spur more interest in the game in the U.S.,” a Fanatics Sportsbook spokesman told Sports Handle.
Chris Altruda contributed to this article.
