Knight Riders buy stake in USA’s Major League Cricket

After successful investments in both India and the Caribbean, the Knight Riders group have decided to tap into the blooming cricket market in the United States and have officially invested in the Major League Cricket (MLC) that will kick-start in 2022. The group now holds a significant stake in the competition at the tournament level, unlike in both the IPL and CPL, where their investments only extends to the franchise level.

"We are hugely excited by the Knight Riders buying into the vision of Major League Cricket and look forward to working with them to bring the potential of American cricket to fruition. It is great to have them in early in the process and have their expertise involved all the way through the league's launch. Moreover, their investment is a statement of validation of our plans. This is a strategic long-term investment into the future of cricket in the United States," Cricbuzz quoted Srinivasan as saying.

"The US being the largest media market in the world and the proliferation of the commonwealth diaspora provides a unique opportunity. We believe there is a large enough market for cricket. There are brands in the US who would look at cricket as a platform to advertise and build activation plans and marketing plans around our product,” Mysore told Cricbuzz.

“There is also a considerable appetite for merchandising and licensing that goes with it. If we can systematically and smartly go about building an elite product and then packaging and marketing it optimally ,we may well be on our way to build something truly special.”