In a bid to make Texas a major cricket hub in the future, USA Cricket along with American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) have got the permission from the Grand Prairie City Council in Texas to redevelop the AirHogs Stadium into a state-of-the-art Major League Cricket facility by 2021. ACE is backed by Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan, the founders of Willow TV, and Satyan Gajwani and Vineet Jain, the principals of The Times of India Group.
AirHogs Stadium, located in North Texas region, should be home to a Dallas/Texas franchise team for Major League Cricket tournament, which will be launched by USA Cricket in 2022. The Stadium will be leased out on a 10-year lease contract and a $20,000 a month fee will be paid by USA Cricket to use the Stadium facilities. It needs to be seen if the redevelopment will be completed in time to host some of Minor League Cricket matches in 2021 for franchise teams based in the Texas region (Austin Athletics, Houston Hurricanes and Irving Mustangs).
A $1.3 million cash grant has been approved by the City Council towards the project, along with $200,000 for maintenance and a full rebate on taxes for construction materials. USA Cricket, ACE and Major League Cricket also have plans to develop two fields adjacent to the stadium and will contribute a seven-figure investment amount for the same, said Will Swann, director of corporate development for the league in a press release.
Currently, the Central Broward Stadium in Fort Lauderhill in Florida is the only ICC accredited ODI/T20I facility in the USA and after the completion of the AirHogs Stadium, USA Cricket hopes to get the facility accredited as well, which in turn will bolster USA Cricket’s hopes to host International cricket competitions/T20 Cricket World Cup tournament in the 2023-2031 cycle. USA Cricket submitted a joint bid along with Windies Cricket to host ICC events in the 2023-2031 cycle, and having multiple Stadiums with accreditation will certainly help a long way in achieving that goal.
“The successful development of a cricket-dedicated stadium has long been a priority for us, and it is a significant stride forward for the growth of cricket in America,” USA Cricket chairman Paraag Marathe said in a statement. “We also look forward to bringing international cricket events, and the crowds that go with them, to our new stadium, and to help introduce the sport to a broader audience.”
The Stadium, which was home to Texas AirHogs Baseball team, terminated its membership in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball on October 23rd, and their lease term on the stadium was also coming to a close in 2020.
