 | |
| Countries | United States |
|---|---|
| Administrator | American Cricket Enterprises |
| Format | Twenty20 |
| First edition | 2023 |
| Latest edition | 2025 |
| Next edition | 2026 |
| Tournament format | Round-robin andplayoffs |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Current champion | MI New York (2nd title) |
| Most successful | MI New York (2 titles) |
| Most runs | Faf du Plessis (934) |
| Most wickets | Trent Boult (46) |
| TV | List of broadcasters |
| Website | majorleaguecricket |
 2025 Major League Cricket season | |
Major League Cricket (MLC), also known asCognizant Major League Cricket[1][2] for sponsorship reasons, is a professionalTwenty20 (T20)cricket league in the United States organized by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) and sanctioned byUSA Cricket. Founded in 2023, the league operates as a single entity consisting of six city-basedfranchises, each run by individual investor groups.
The inaugural season took place over three weeks atGrand Prairie Stadium inGrand Prairie,Texas, andChurch Street Park inMorrisville,North Carolina, concluding on July 30, 2023. In 2025, it was announced that MLC would expand its host venues to include theOakland Coliseum (former home ofMLB’sOakland A’s and theNFL’sOakland Raiders) inOakland,California, andCentral Broward Park inLauderhill,Florida. Church Street Park did not return for the 2025 season.
As of 2025, MLC has completed three seasons.MI New York are the current defending champions, having defeated theWashington Freedom in the2025 final.[3] MLC also oversees a developmental league,Minor League Cricket (MiLC), which launched in 2021 ahead of MLC’s debut[4][5]
There have been various attempts to hold a Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in the United States, such as the short-livedPro Cricket (which played a single season in 2004),[6] and theAmerican Premier League, a proposed league in partnership between theUnited States of America Cricket Association (USACA) andNew Zealand Cricket.[7]
In November 2018,USA Cricket announced that it was seeking partners to establish a domestic T20 league in the country by 2021, with goals to "engage existing fans and grow new ones", and spur "sustainable development of cricketing infrastructure across the United States".[6] In May 2019, USA Cricket accepted a bid by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) for a US$1 billion investment, covering the league and other investments benefitting the US national teams. Its partners include Satyan Gajwani andVineet Jain ofthe Times Group, andWillow TV founders Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan.[8][9] As part of the agreement, ACE also handles commercial activities for T20I and ODI matches hosted by the United States.[10]
In January 2019, USA Cricket was approved as the new governing board for cricket in USA,[11] replacing the USACA, which had been expelled from theInternational Cricket Council in September 2017 due to governance issues.[12] The new body set a goal for cricket to reach wider, mainstream popularity in the country, where it has typically been considered a niche international sport.[13][14]
In an annual general meeting on February 21, 2020, it was stated that USA Cricket planned to launch Major League Cricket in 2021, and a 22-team development league known as Minor League Cricket that summer as a prelude.[15] Minor League Cricket was officially announced the following week, with plans to host a nine-week, 170-game season beginning July 4;[16] however, it was postponed to 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[17][18]
In October 2020 USA Cricket reaffirmed plans to launch Major League Cricket in 2022 as part of its "foundational plan" for 2020–23.[19] On December 1, 2020, it was announced that the IPL'sKolkata Knight Riders (co-owned by Bollywood actorShah Rukh Khan) would invest in ACE.[20][21]
In February 2021 MLC announced plans for Minor League Cricket Youth and Major League Cricket Youth leagues, which would, alongside a MLC Jr. Championship and player development program, serve as a development system for younger players to progress towards Major League Cricket and the national team.[22] In May 2021, the launch of Major League Cricket was delayed to 2023 due to COVID-19 and to provide additional time to develop facilities.[23]
In May 2022 Major League Cricket announced it had acquired funds of US$120 million as part of itsSeries A and A1 fundraising rounds.[24] Investors committing to MLC featured the likes ofMicrosoft CEOSatya Nadella,Ross Perot Jr.,Anand Rajaraman,Shantanu Narayen and more.[25] MLC plans to use these funds to mainly build stadiums and first-class facilities in the hopes of accelerating cricket's development across the United States.[26][27]
In June 2022 MLC announced the inaugural season of Minor League Cricket Youth (MiLC Youth).[28] The inaugural season of MiLC Youth was announced to be contested between eleven teams at thePrairie View Cricket Complex inHouston starting July 25, 2022.[29] The finals for the inaugural season took place on July 29 at between the Dallas Mustangs and theNew Jersey Stallions,[30] in which the Stallions beat the Mustangs by two wickets.[31]
In November 2022, it was announced the first season of MLC will be staged from July 13–30, 2023, atGrand Prairie Stadium. The tournament will be played in a single round-robin format with 15 league matches played among six franchises before a four-match play-off phase. MLC also hopes to play matches in a to-be-constructed stadium in Los Angeles, andChurch Street Park inMorrisville, North Carolina.[32]
In February 2023, it was announced that the player draft for the league's inaugural season would be held on March 19, 2023.[33]
Theinaugural player draft was held on March 19, 2023, at theNASA Johnson Space Center inHouston.[34] The draft was conducted over 9 rounds via aserpentine system, where the team order is reversed every round.[35] Out of the 9 rounds, 8 were general draft picks, with the final round being exclusively for U-23 players.[36] Each of the six teams had a purse of over $1 million, with $800,000 for overseas players and $300,000 for US-based players.[37] The draft had a fixed salary cap with a maximum of $75,000 (first round) and a minimum of $2,500 (ninth round).[38] Overseas signings were directly signed and were not part of the draft.[39] Each franchise must have a minimum of fifteen players, with the maximum being eighteen. Out of these eighteen players, a maximum of nine can be overseas players.[40]
Following the draft, it was reported that USAC had not yet sanctioned either Major or Minor League Cricket for the 2023 season, with the ICC stating that its members should not issueNo Objection Certificates (NOCs) to release players to participate at this time. Interim chairman of the board Atul Rai citing unspecified concerns and outstanding issues over how ACE is administering the competitions, including wanting to seek a more "favorable" short-term agreement. MLC director Justin Geale stated that the sanctioning applications were with USA Cricket", and that "the recent staffing changes at USA Cricket may have contributed to any delays.[41] In April 2023, the league was officially sanctioned by the ICC, removing a significant obstacle to the league launching in July.[42] Play began on July 13, 2023.[43]
In December 2023, four days after the conclusion of the2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, it was announced that MLC's season would begin on July 5, 2024.[44] It was also reported that the matches would be played inGrand Prairie Stadium, along with other venues.[45] In March,Cognizant was named as the title sponsor for the league from the 2024 season.[46]
In May, the ICC granted the tournament officialList A status,[47] resulting in the official recognition of the tournament as a "T20 league" and tournament playing records now being counted as official format statistics.[48] Vijay Srinivasan, MLC's chief executive, later emphasized ambitions to expand the tournament to 10 teams and to increase the number of matches played and provide the prediction tips.[49] Srinivasan stepped down from his role in January 2025, with formerCricket West Indies CEO Johnny Grave appointed as his successor.[50]
MLC announced in April that it would move its headquarters fromSan Francisco toGrand Prairie.[51][52] The announcement came a day after the unveiling of a partnership between the league andNew Zealand Cricket to form a new team by 2027,[53][54] and a month after a deal to host matches at theOakland Coliseum.[55] The 2025 season expanded from a 19-game season to 34, and moved its opening day to early-June to reduce overlap with other leagues, particularlyThe Hundred.[56]
MLC began with six teams and uses a single-entity structure under which all teams are owned by ACE, with investor-operator assigned to each team.[57] It plans to expand to ten teams in the future.[58][56]
USA Cricket's CEOIain Higgins identifiedAtlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles,New Jersey, New York City, and San Francisco as markets where the sport was most popular.[21] The league's six inaugural teams are assigned toDallas,Los Angeles,New York,San Francisco,Seattle, andWashington, D.C.[59] Only Dallas currently has a home stadium; the league plans to build cricket stadiums in the other locales.
| Season | Final | Player of the series | No. of teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Result | Runners-up | Venue | |||
| 2023 | MI New York 184/3 (16 overs) | MI New York won by 7 wickets Scorecard | Seattle Orcas 183/9 (20 overs) | Grand Prairie Stadium,Texas | Cameron Gannon (Seattle Orcas) | 6 |
| 2024 | Washington Freedom 207/5 (20 overs) | Washington Freedom won by 96 runs Scorecard | San Francisco Unicorns 111 (16 overs) | Travis Head (Washington Freedom) | ||
| 2025 | MI New York 180/7 (20 overs) | MI New York won by 5 runs Scorecard | Washington Freedom 175/5 (20 overs) | Mitchell Owen (Washington Freedom) | ||
Seasons Teams | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Knight Riders | 6th | 5th | 6th |
| MI New York | 1st | 4th | 1st |
| San Francisco Unicorns | 5th | 2nd | 4th |
| Seattle Orcas | 2nd | 6th | 5th |
| Texas Super Kings | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd |
| Washington Freedom | 4th | 1st | 2nd |
On November 18, 2020, it was announced that ACE would leaseAirHogs Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas—home of the formerTexas AirHogs independent baseball team—and convert it to a cricket-specific facility that will host a Grand Prairie-based team in Major League Cricket.[83][84]
In March 2022, ACE discussed plans to invest $110 million in eight newly constructed or renovated venues for the league and possible hosting of matches during the2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup (which the United States co-hosted with the West Indies), including the aforementioned Grand Prairie Stadium,Church Street Park inMorrisville,Moosa Stadium inPearland,Prairie View Cricket Complex inPrairie View, and new sites inOrange County (backed by the Knight Riders), theSanta Clara County Fairgrounds, andMarymoor Park inRedmond, Washington. The renovated venues have a budget of approximately $3 million each, while the three new west coast venues have a budget of $30 million each; ACE stated that the west coast venues would be completed by 2024, and will have a projected capacity of 10,000–20,000.[85][86] As of November 2022, it was reported that work on the other proposed pitches had not yet commenced.[32]
In February 2023, it was reported that most of the 2023 matches were set to be played in Grand Prairie, with Church Street Park set to be used as a secondary venue.[32][87] Due to the summer heat in Texas, it was reported byESPNcricinfo that most matches would be scheduled in the evening, rather than scheduled in the daytime hours to attract audiences in markets such as India.[32] With the announcement of the 2023 schedule, it was confirmed that a portion of the group stage would be played at Church Street Park; due to a curfew on the use of floodlights, these matches will begin in the early evening.[88] This was true for the2024 season as well, with matches again being played in Grand Prairie and Morrisville.[89]
For the 2025 season, MLC split its matches between Grand Prairie and, for the first time,Central Broward Park (which had long-been the United States' only major cricket stadium) and theOakland Coliseum (former home stadium ofthe Athletics ofMajor League Baseball).[90][91]
In the United States, MLC matches are broadcast byWillow. In the inaugural season, selected matches were sub-licensed toCBS Sports Network. Over-the-top television serviceSling TV also streamed matches as part of its sponsorship agreement with the league.[92]
Beginning in the 2024 season, MLC began to sub-license team-oriented packages of matches toregional sports networks, beginning withYES Network (MI New York)[93] andMonumental Sports Network (Washington Freedom).[94] In 2025, a similar agreement was reached withNBC Sports Bay Area andCalifornia for San Francisco Unicorns matches.[95]
International providers includeTNT Sports in the UK and Ireland,ARY in Pakistan, andPrime Video in Australia and New Zealand.[96][97]
| Territory | Outlets |
|---|---|
| United States | Willow TV,YES Network (MI New York matches),Monumental Sports Network (Washington Freedom matches),NBC Sports Bay Area/California (San Francisco Unicorns matches) |
| Canada | Willow TV |
| Australia | 7plus,7mate (Final only) |
| Middle East and North Africa | Cricbuzz |
| Pakistan | A Sports |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | ESPN |
| United Kingdom and Ireland | Premier Sports |
| India | Star Sport (Television) &Disney+ Hotstar (OTT) |
| Category | Statistic | Record holder | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batting records | Most runs | Faf du Plessis | 934 |
| Highest score | Finn Allen | 151 | |
| Bowling records | Most wickets | Trent Boult | 46 |
| Fielding | Most dismissals (wicket-keeper) | Quinton de Kock | 9 |
| Most catches (fielder) | Heinrich Klaasen | 9 | |
| Team records | Highest total | San Francisco | 269/5, vsWashington |
| Lowest total | Los Angeles | 50, vs.MI New York | |
| Highest run chase | Seattle Orcas | 238/7, vsMI New York |
Minor League Cricket is a developmental league for Major League Cricket that completed its inaugural season in 2021.[18] It consists of 26 franchise-based teams in four regional divisions.[99] Unlike Major League Cricket, Minor League Cricket uses privately owned franchises.[57]
| Teams | |
|---|---|
| Seasons | |
| Final | |
| Draft | |
| Related articles | |
| National Teams | |
|---|---|
| Associations | |
| List A | |
| Twenty20 Domestic | |
| Twenty20 Leagues |
|
| Twenty20 Youth | |
| Grounds | |
| Lists | |
| Other | |
Top-level professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's | |||||||
| Women's |
| ||||||
| Others |
| ||||||
