Satya Nadella, Ross Perot Jr. Among Investors Pouring Millions Into American Cricket

India-West Staff Reporter

NEW YORK, NY – Major League Cricket (MLC), the first professional Twenty20 Cricket League in the U. S., has announced that it has completed an initial close of a $44 million Series A and A1 Fundraising Round led by a group of mostly Indian American business leaders.

With an additional commitment of $76 million in further fundraising over the next 12 months in place, MLC plans to deploy more than $120 million to launch the country’s first-ever professional Twenty20 cricket league and open a new era for the world’s second most popular sport in America, MLC said.

“The significant funding committed by an outstanding group of investors will allow Major League Cricket to build first-class facilities and accelerate the sport’s development across the country, bringing world-class professional cricket to the world’s largest sports market,” Major League Cricket cofounders Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan said.

The investor group comprises leading business executives and successful tech entrepreneurs who have led some of the world’s most prominent companies. Prominent names include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, Founding Partners at Milliways Ventures and Rocketship VC, Anurag Jain, Tanweer Ahmed, Baheti family and Ross Perot Jr. among others.

Funding will be used to develop cricket related facilities including stadiums and training centers in eight cities across the US including Seattle, New York, San Jose and Houston.

In 2024, the U. S. will co-host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with the West Indies.