Chicago and Atlanta could be the next franchises in the expanded Major League Cricket

Chicago and Atlanta have been mooted as possible expansion sites for an increasingly larger Major League Cricket, with a move to Canada also touted.

The six-team MLC made a historic debut last season as cricket continues its determined progression in the United States.

Texas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Seattle and New York are the first franchises – strategic locations with strong South Asian communities.

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There is no specific timetable for expansion, but MLC hopes to emulate the lucrative Indian Premier League, cricket’s biggest competition which has 10 teams after starting with eight following its launch in 2008.

“We’re not in a hurry to expand, but in the long term… it’s a 10-team league in terms of geography and market,” MLC general manager Vijay Srinivasan told me before the second season which will begin in July. 5.

“I think we’re happy where we are right now with six teams and in a few seasons you’ll see the next level of expansion.”

Chicago and Atlanta, major American cities with a significant South Asian footprint, were among the inaugural teams, but Seattle, in the Pacific Northwest, won out. Seattle is MLC’s only small market franchise, but has ties to IPL franchise Delhi Capitals.

“Atlanta and Chicago… there are very, very strong communities in those markets that are very passionate about cricket, so those would be very logical markets for us to look at,” Srinivasan said.

“I think there’s a list of about four or five (cities) that are currently being considered.”

A move across the border could also be considered, although that could be complicated given Canada has its own fledgling T20 league.

“Vancouver and Toronto have a history of presence in American sports. Should I expect Vancouver and Toronto (as part of an expansion)? Absolutely,” Soma Somasegar, co-owner of the Seattle Orcas, told me.

“Places with potential for expansion will have a cricket-loving diaspora in big cities. Houston is also a place I could probably see a team.”

Somasegar believed a greater depth of American talent needed to emerge before expansion.

As I reported recently, teams this coming season will be allowed six foreign players per starting XI, which is more than the quota of four accepted in established leagues. MLC is believed to aim to comply with International Cricket Council regulations in the coming seasons.

“We need to build more national players,” Somasegar said. “We need to figure out how we’re going to continue to cultivate and nurture existing domestic players, and really expand the footprint of domestic players.”

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The ultimate vision is for more teams, more games and a season of around six weeks, from early June to mid-July, which would avoid a clash with the competition of the Hundred in the United Kingdom.

MLC officials and owners want a home-and-home season — where teams play each other twice — to sustain competition, but that likely won’t happen until all franchises have a home field.

Like last year, the entire tournament will be played in Dallas and Morrisville, North Carolina. It had been hoped that New York’s $30 modular stadium, built for the ongoing T20 World Cup, could host MLC matches, but that was not possible.

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“We were very optimistic that we could use the infrastructure, but various logistical reasons proved too difficult,” Srinivasan said. “It’s obviously a little disappointing, we would have loved to bring MLC to the New York area, which has a team, and it really would have been a nice way to jump start this whole thing.”

The 34,000-seat Eisenhower Park stadium on Long Island is already being demolished as the U.S. portion of the T20 World Cup comes to an end. As I previously reported, there are ongoing discussions about third party use of the facilities after the tournament.

“If it’s available next year and it’s a viable location, we will absolutely explore it,” Srinivasan said.

The brilliance of the New York spectacle marked by the sold-out Indo-Pakistani blockbuster coupled with the stirring performances of the American underdogs should provide momentum for a crucial second season of MLC.

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“The World Cup brings a lot of attention to the sport. I think we can build on that momentum,” Srinivasan said. “The World Cup comes and goes. But we are here to stay.”