American Pro Cricket (ProCricket) today officially unveiled an eight-team pro cricket league in the U.S. with the '04 season set to begin July 2nd. The league will feature rules tailored to the U.S. market, including three-hour matches and a version of the designated hitter rule. The teams include the Chicago Tornadoes, Florida Thunder (Miami), L.A. Unity, New Jersey Fire (Bridgewater), N.Y. Storm, S.F. Freedom, Texas Arrowheads (Houston) and Washington (DC) Forward. Forty int'l pro cricket players have been signed to contracts for the '04 season, along with 120 U.S. players. All matches will air on a single television outlet, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks (ProCricket).
SINGLE-ENTITY: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes ProCricket, like MLS, is a single-entity league, "centrally owned by [an unidentified] group of investors who sell the teams' operating rights, and have promised cash to sustain the league for three to five years." IT exec Kamal Verma owns the operating rights to all the teams, "despite interest from others" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/24). ProCricket Chair & Commissioner Kal Patel, on his vision for the league, "We absolutely want to be part of the American sporting mainstream. The fulcrum of our business plan is to be part of the mainstream. Without that, we cannot declare success." In DC, Eric Fisher notes projected attendance for the first season is 3,000-5,000 per game, and tickets will cost $6.95 each. The TV deal is expected to be with a satellite TV service (WASHINGTON TIMES, 6/24).
