New cricket stadium in Southern California heralds the sport's Olympic return after 128 years

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s been 126 years since cricket — the second most watched sport in the world — made an appearance in the Olympics. That’s about to change in 2028.

On Wednesday, shovels hit the ground in Pomona, a city in the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, where construction has begun for a 10,000-plus capacity premier cricket stadium. It will serve as the venue for men’s and women’s games, played by six teams in each competition.

The stadium is being erected in the Fairplex fairgrounds as the home of the Los Angeles Knight Riders, a professional Major League Cricket team owned by the Mumbai-based Knight Riders Sports. The company is co-led by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

The groundbreaking kicked off with a “bhumi pujan,” a ritual rooted in Hindu tradition, which often marks the start of a construction project as a way of seeking divine blessings and forgiveness for disturbing the earth.

Cricket is already woven into the cultural fabric of U.S. diaspora communities from all over the world, particularly South Asia, where it is followed with religious fervor. In the U.S., cricket fans, coaches and players view a dedicated cricket stadium in a major sports market like Southern California as a huge milestone.

Investors hope momentum from local major league cricket games carries into the Olympics, taking the sport to a mainstream American sports audience. Many also believe that this newfound visibility will help carve out promising pathways for homegrown cricketing talent.

Venky Mysore, CEO of Knight Riders Sports, said establishing the Knight Riders Cricket Field is just the first step in getting the average American fan engaged. Mysore is convinced of the sport's commercial potential.

“People who watch the Olympics are not necessarily cricket fans,” Mysore said. “When cricket becomes an Olympic sport, that takes interest and awareness to the next level.”

Knight Riders Sports operates multiple teams worldwide — in India, the Caribbean and the United Arab Emirates. But the Pomona venue is the only stadium they’ve built from scratch, Mysore said. Only three international-level cricket stadiums operate in the U.S. — in Texas, Florida and North Carolina. The sport is also played in other multi-purpose venues like the Oakland Coliseum.

Peter Della Penna, who has been covering cricket in the U.S. for the past two decades, says this is the first time an international cricket event in the U.S. will have a dedicated venue. In 2024, a high-capacity modular stadium was specifically built for the T20 World Cup in New York, but was dismantled after the event.

But during the LA Olympics, it would not be ideal to hold the cricket matches in another part of the country, he said.

“Cricket players would want to be in the Olympic Village, walk shoulder to shoulder with U.S. track and field athletes, swimmers and basketball players,” he said. “Cricketers in America have not had such prominence and U.S. cricket really needs that.”

Cricket has had a long, rich history in the U.S. The first international cricket match was played between the U.S. and Canada in 1844 at St. George’s Cricket Club in Manhattan, New York. Canada beat the U.S. by a slim margin before thousands of spectators, with large wagers placed on the event.

A high point came in 2024, when the U.S. national team achieved a stunning upset over Pakistan in a T20 World Cup match.

Debjit Lahiri, a Wisconsin-based cricket historian, said Olympic cricket was last played in 1900 in Paris where the Summer Games were a chaotic sideshow to the World’s Fair, featuring events like live pigeon shooting. Cricket never made it to the 1904 Olympic Games held in St. Louis.

Cricket in Los Angeles began around 1900 with local clubs. It gained prominence in the 1930s with the Hollywood Cricket Club formed by expat British actors, drawing big names like Errol Flynn, Laurence Olivier, Cary Grant and Boris Karloff. The club’s original home at Griffith Park was torn down to build an equestrian center for the 1984 Olympics. It moved to Woodley Park in the San Fernando Valley, where several aspiring cricketers learned to play the game, including Ayan Desai, a 22-year-old rising star who hopes to play for Team USA in 2028.

Desai, whose family owns a motel near the future Knight Riders stadium, said he was thrilled to hear about a world-class cricket venue almost in his backyard.

“To play the Olympics is special, but to do it in front of your home crowd, in your home city, that would be amazing,” he said.

Desai, a left-arm fast bowler, plays for the Seattle Orcas major league team and has competed in four international games as part of the U.S. national team.

“This is what we’ve needed to grow cricket in Los Angeles,” he said.

Antigua native Reggie Benjamin, a former U.S. cricketer and longtime coach based in Los Angeles, remains skeptical.

“I’m happy to see cricket get an opportunity to showcase itself here,” he said. “But if you can’t get average Americans to come to a game and sit in the stands for three hours, or if you can’t get American kids to play cricket, the game is not going to grow.”

Benjamin said he’s been disappointed to see homegrown talent and grassroots efforts cast aside as players from other countries are brought in to play for major league teams and the national team. He also points to poor management that has beset U.S. cricket and raised concerns about cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympics.

Last year, those challenges came to a head as USA Cricket, a nonprofit tasked with developing the sport in the United States, filed for federal bankruptcy protection after ending a contract with American Cricket Enterprises, the group that created Major League Cricket. Since then, the International Cricket Council, which oversees cricket worldwide, has been temporarily running the U.S. national cricket team. ACE also filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination of the contract.

Yet big investors like Mysore are optimistic that a cooperative relationship is possible between USA Cricket and Major League Cricket. Both feed off each other, he said. National selectors often look to major league teams for star players.

“A strong national team is important because it keeps interest alive in the sport,” he said.

Walter Marquez, CEO of the Fairplex, says he believes in cricket’s future. A diehard baseball fan, Marquez said he’s been boning up on cricket recently. He now knows what a “yorker” means, and he sees real potential for the game to grow.

“For those who don’t know cricket, given an opportunity, they will learn what an exciting game it is, especially the T20 format,” said Marquez, referring to the truncated format the Olympics will use in 2028.

“We like home runs. We love the long ball. Cricket has a lot of those. American sports fans just don’t know they’re cricket fans yet.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Officials break ground for the new Knight Riders Cricket Field, which will serve as the Los Angeles Knight Riders' official home field for 2026 and later host cricket at the LA 2028 Olympics, at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, Calif., on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir temple Hindu monks walk after performing a Puja ceremony, a traditional blessing ritual for the groundbreaking ceremony for the official home field for the Los Angeles Knight Riders for 2026, and the future venue of the LA 2028 Olympics Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, Calif., Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir temple Hindu monks walk after performing a Puja ceremony, a traditional blessing ritual for the groundbreaking ceremony for the official home field for the Los Angeles Knight Riders for 2026, and the future venue of the LA 2028 Olympics Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, Calif., Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Members of the Los Angeles Knight Riders, cricket team form a LA sign with their hands as they pose for a picture at the Pomona Fairplex on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, during the groundbreaking ceremony of the new Knight Riders Cricket Field, which will serve as the Los Angeles Knight Riders' official home field for 2026 and later host cricket at the LA 2028 Olympics. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Venky Mysore, the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) welcomes guests to the groundbreaking ceremony for the official home field for the Los Angeles Knight Riders for 2026, and the future venue of the LA 2028 Olympics Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, Calif., Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Unmurkt Chand holds his baby, Krishay, with members of the Los Angeles Knight Riders, cricket team form a LA sign with their hands as they pose for a picture at the Pomona Fairplex on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, during the groundbreaking ceremony of the new Knight Riders Cricket Field, which will serve as the Los Angeles Knight Riders' official home field for 2026 and later host cricket at the LA 2028 Olympics. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

New fresh grass is grown for a world-class cricket pitch at the Pomona Fairplex on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, seen during the groundbreaking of the new Knight Riders Cricket Field, which will serve as the Los Angeles Knight Riders' official home field for 2026 and later host cricket at the LA 2028 Olympics. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

New fresh grass is grown for a world-class cricket pitch at the Pomona Fairplex on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, seen during the groundbreaking of the new Knight Riders Cricket Field, which will serve as the Los Angeles Knight Riders' official home field for 2026 and later host cricket at the LA 2028 Olympics. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

BERLIN (AP) — Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid on Thursday as he left a building in Berlin.

Pahlavi had just departed a news briefing, during which he criticized the ceasefire between the United States and Iran, when the incident occurred outside Germany’s federal news conference building.

He appeared unhurt by the liquid coating the back of his blazer and neck, and waved to his supporters before he got into a car that drove away. Police said the liquid appeared to be tomato juice.

The alleged perpetrator, whose name was not released in line with German privacy rules, was immediately detained by police.

Pahlavi, 65, is the son of Iran's former shah, who was so widely hated that millions took to the streets in 1979 to force him from power. Nevertheless, Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a player in his country’s future, though it's unclear how much support he has in Iran after he has been in exile for nearly 50 years.

Hundreds of his supporters demonstrated Thursday near Germany's parliament building, according to German news agency dpa.

Pahlavi, who was not invited to meet with any government representatives during his visit to Berlin, argued Thursday that the ceasefire agreement assumes the Iranian government’s behavior will change and “you’re going to deal with people who all of a sudden have become pragmatists.”

“I don’t see that happening,” he said. “I’m not saying that diplomacy should not be given a chance, but I think diplomacy has been given enough chance.”

Pahlavi is jockeying for a return to power should the Shiite theocracy fall and has supported the U.S.-Israeli military intervention in the Middle East.

Pahlavi in Berlin called on Europeans to do more to support Iranian people fighting for democracy. He claimed 19 political prisoners were executed by Iranian authorities in the past two weeks and another 20 people have been sentenced to death.

“Will the free world do something, or watch the slaughter in silence?” Pahlavi said.

Meanwhile, more than an hour after the incident, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz released a statement saying the government welcomes the extension of the ceasefire.

“This presents an important opportunity to resume diplomatic negotiations in Islamabad with the aim of making peace and averting further escalation of the war,” the statement said. “Tehran should seize this opportunity.”

Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland.

Supporters of Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of Shah Reza Pahlavi, shout slogans outside the building where Pahlavi holds a news conference in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Iran's Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of Shah Reza Pahlavi, is protected by security after he was attacked with a red fluid, following a news conference in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Iran's Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of Shah Reza Pahlavi, waves to supporters after he was attacked with a red fluid following a news conference in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Iran's Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of Shah Reza Pahlavi, is protected by security after he was attacked with a red fluid, following a news conference in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)