2024 Cricket World Cup will be played on Long Island after opposition to temporary Bronx stadium
NEW YORK -- A temporary stadium is coming to Nassau County.
New York was one of three U.S. states chosen to host the International Cricket Council's 2024 World Cup.
It's the first time the tournament will be played there.
Members of the Long Island United Cricket Club say the sport is gaining popularity in Nassau County.
"Mostly cricket in United States is an immigrant, middle-aged, weekend warrior kind of sport, but the kids who were born here, they have started picking it up," Babar Zia said.
Now, the International Cricket Council has named Eisenhower Park as one of three U.S. locations to host the men's 2024 World Cup.
"We live right down the road. It's going to be a spectacle. We're all so excited," Mohammad Waqas said.
"Tremendous opportunity to introduce cricket to the locals," cricket coach George Samuel said.
A 34,000-seat modular temporary stadium will be built, then eventually taken down.
"Not a lot of us know a lot about it, but it's an international sport that continues to grow," former New York Jet Marty Lyons said.
In addition to bringing more attention to the sport, Nassau County is banking on an economic boost to the area.
"The economic driver is going to be tens of millions of dollars," Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said.
"It helps our hotels, restaurants and primarily small businesses here," Dorothy Roberts of the Long Island Hospitality Association said.
"This will create jobs, as well. Local jobs," Blakeman said.
But use of the green in exchange for all that green had some people seeing red when Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx was initially looked at as a host site.
"The Van Cortlandt Park Alliance is very relieved and excited the International Cricket Council listened to our community's concerns and decided not to build a stadium here in our park," deputy director the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance Christina Taylor said.
Despite having the largest cricket league in New York there, opponents did not want to see 20 acres of park eliminated during the construction and game time.
"And then there was no real plan for taking down the stadium and fixing any damage that was caused. So we assumed that there would probably be many months of closure due to repairs," Taylor said.
"We explored a number of potential venue options in the country, and we were hugely encouraged by the enthusiasm the event generated amongst prospective hosts," the ICC said in a statement.
Blakeman said he was contacted 60 days ago about the possibility of hosting, and local leaders were immediately on board.
Texas and Florida are the other two host states for the games.