A multipurpose venue which hosts horse racing and the LA County Fair will be turned in to a cricket ground for the sports return at the 2028 Olympics.
The six-team, T20 competition will be played in a temporary, purpose-built structure at the Fairgrounds in Pomona.
Pomona is a city in Southern California about 50 kilometres from Los Angeles.
The Fairgrounds, officially known as Fairplex, is a near-500-acre event complex that has hosted the Los Angeles County Fair since 1922 and it’s also a year-round venue for concerts, trade shows, sports and cultural events.
Cricket will return to the Olympics after 128 years and the ICC welcomed the venue confirmation.
“It is a significant step towards the preparation for our sport’s return to the Olympics,“ ICC Chair Jay Shah said.
“Although cricket is a hugely popular sport, it will be a fantastic opportunity to expand traditional boundaries when it features in the Olympics in the fast-paced, exciting T20 format that should appeal to new audiences.
“On behalf of the ICC, I want to express my gratitude to LA28 and the International Olympic Committee for their support and look forward to collaborating with them and ICC Members in preparing for LA28 and making cricket a huge success there.”
LA28 CEO, Reynold Hoover, said they had “promised the world an incredible Olympic Games and today we’re proud to share the plan that will make it happen”.
“Los Angeles is the epicentre of sports, culture and entertainment, and every venue selected for the 2028 Games will provide athletes and fans the best possible experience,” he said.
Both the men’s and women’s T20 competitions will feature six teams each, with a 90-player quota allocated per gender, allowing each nation to field a squad of up to 15 players.
The full tournament schedule will be finalised closer to the start of the Games.
T20 cricket has previously featured in multi-sport events, with both men’s and women’s competitions held at the Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2023. The 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham featured a women’s T20 tournament.
