PPB October 2018

Spo r t i ng Even t s And Venues 50 | OCTOBER 2018 | GROW All-Rounders Ahead Fans of the “other” football may bemoan a lack of enthusiasm among U.S. sports fans, but they may soon have another world sport with which to share the domestic spotlight: cricket. The global favorite has actually been played in America since its colonial days, and though the sport has flown well under the radar for the past 200 years it is experiencing a resurgence. Market research firm Nielson found that 200,000 people play the sport in the U.S., and it has a fan base in the millions. This year, a Houston-area business man is building what might be the nation’s largest cricket complex northwest of the Texas megacity. When completed, the complex will house at least 10 separate fields. Eric Parthen, U.S. project manager for the International Cricket Council, told the Houston Chronicle that the nation’s immigrant population is largely responsible for the rise in interest—Southeast Asian communities in particular. “These children are growing up in families passionate about cricket,” Parthen said. Jen Alexander is associate editor of PPB.