Salary Cap For America's Major League Cricket Tipped To Rise In Coming Years
In the late afternoon sunshine, with the spectacular Oakland Hills in the backdrop, Major League Cricket on Thursday made history with its first game at the iconic Coliseum, a world famous ground once home to the Athletics and Raiders.
The terraces of the 40,000-seat ground were about a quarter full but it was undoubtedly a momentous moment for the fledgling American T20 domestic franchise league, hoped to ignite the No.1 targeted growth market for cricket.
Apart from the initial intrigue over the MLC launching in 2023, finally ending decades of unfulfilled grandiose plans, playing games at the Coliseum has made splashy headlines with the announcement widely reported, including in The New York Times, Axios and mainstream media in the Bay Area.
It's given nationwide exposure for a league entering a pivotal third season amid change. The league has expanded to 34 games and nestled into the earlier slot of mid-June in the hope of cementing a permanent spot in cricket's congested calendar.
The Coliseum has shifted the tournament to the west coast for the first time after games previously were played solely in Dallas, the hub of American cricket, and a small ground in Morrisville, North Carolina.
This season will also see games in Lauderhill, Florida, where many international games have been played over the years, along with the Bay Area and Dallas.
There are plans for the six teams to have home grounds, but for all the franchises bar Texas Super Kings - even the Coliseum is currently only a one-season arrangement with San Francisco Unicorns - putting the suitable infrastructure in place has proven challenging.
It's unlikely new stadiums will be unveiled in the next couple of years ahead of expansion in 2027 when two new teams will be added. As I've reported previously, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and Toronto are the cities in the mix.
Through significant investment of more than $100 million, the well-heeled MLC has been able to attract top stars from major cricket nations, especially Australian players such as superstars Pat Cummins, Steve Smith and David Warner.
The MLC salary cap of $1.1 million per team has not changed over the short history of the tournament, with top players earning around $175,000 for a minimum of five games - rivalling the highest figure per game in T20 leagues outside of the money-spinning Indian Premier league.
But stiff competition in an increasingly congested franchise circuit ensures MLC must continue to offer healthy salaries in order to attract top talent. Currently the tournament has a domestic media rights deal with Willow TV, a subscription app and minor satellite and cable channel.
There are also partnerships with FUBO, a streaming television service, and CBS Sports Network, while Unicorns games will be shown live on NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California.
The current deal with Willow is five years, but believed to come with a three-year out clause. 'Willow has been a great partner for us. But the questions are what is next and can we do better?' Seattle Orcas co-owner Soma Somasegar told me.
'There is an opportunity for a good amount of revenue to come into the league from media rights. That will open up not only more opportunities to keep attracting top players but also sponsorship.'
Franchises have been focused on investment since the advent of MLC, but a media rights boon could start seeing profits for owners by the end of the decade.
'We have currently a kind of a starter deal when we launched the league,' Unicorns co-owners Anand Rajaraman said. 'As the league gains popularity, my hope is that the the second broadcast deal is what takes us to profitability.'
There has been significant off-field change for MLC with Johnny Grave taking the reins as chief executive having replaced Vijay Srinivasan, who will helm one of the new franchises.
Grave was the Cricket West Indies chief for seven years up until late last year and before that was commercial director at the Professional Cricketers' Association in England for almost a decade.
'There's less pressure (on the salary cap) compared to those leagues that clash in January, where in that window there's been big wage inflation, a sort of inflationary effect on salary caps,' Grave said.
"We've got a domestic player cap that will be reviewed and then linked to that would be the international salary cap as well.
'But I think there are opportunities that exist here for players in terms of growing their own brands and profile within the U.S. market,' he added. 'We're pretty confident that we're a great proposition for any player in the world.'
MLC's exposure internationally is growing with the league announcing a two-year broadcast deal with JioStar, India's premier sports and entertainment network.
This season is also being broadcast in Australia on Channel Seven, a free-to-air television network, as the ongoing World Test Championship final between Australia and South Africa is shunted behind an online streaming service.
Those tuning into MLC's season-opener from around the world witnessed Finn Allen, a globetrotting T20 batter, provide fireworks in non-stop entertainment alongside American rising star Sanjay Krishnamurthi as a new sporting chapter started at this warhorse of an Oakland institution.
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