The 2024 T20 Cricket World Cup comes to Eisenhower Park

Cricket, a popular global sport, has landed on Long Island, specifically East Meadow and Eisenhower Park as one of the locations of the International Cricket Council T20 World Cup.

“We're used to doing big events here in Eisenhower Park,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said at The Lannin in the county park on Sept. 20. “This is an active park and we want to keep it busy. And what better way to do that and have a world class sporting event right here in Nassau County in Eisenhower Park.”

The United States leg of the tournament will be taking place in June 2024 with the construction of a temporary 34,000–seat cricket stadium in Eisenhower Park. In addition, Grand Prairie in Dallas, Texas and Broward County, Florida will also host a portion of the matches to take place during the tournament’s stint in the U.S.

Previous hosts to the Korean American National Sports Festival, the Ryder Cup, and various other events have demonstrated that Eisenhower Park can host major sporting event. The local portion is expected to attract thousands of visitors to the area and generate tens of billions of dollars, according to Blakeman.

“Our hospitality business, our hotels, our restaurants, our downtown retail areas, our shopping malls, the merchandise that will be sold, and basically the audience that will have 1.3 billion people watching who probably don't know anything about Nassau County, he said. They'll be educated on what a great place this is to live.”

Cricket is not just the second most watched sport in the world only behind soccer, but this specific tournament is the third most viewed of any sporting event led only by the Olympics and World Cup soccer.

Previously proposed to be constructed at Van Cortlandt Park, the idea was met with harsh political as well as public pushback in the Bronx. Local residents felt they had been overseen as a community feared desecration to their beloved park.

“We as a community feel blindsided,” Rep. Ritchie Torres said previously as reported by The Riverdale Press. “And even betrayed, by the sheer suddenness of the city’s decision to construct a massive stadium in our local community in our local park without the barest attempt at community engagement.”