Pennsylvania-based Global Sports Ventures plans to introduce eight professional cricket teams to the United States. Each team will have its own stadium complex as part of a three-year initiative to solidify the sport’s presence in the country. To Jay Pandya, chairman of Global Sports Ventures, the U.S. is the next natural frontier for cricket. The sport has a growing and passionate fan base. More than 1 million viewers watched the live broadcast of the 2015 World Cup. That same year, an exhibition series touring Los Angeles, Houston, and New York attracted audiences averaging 28,000 viewers. “We, as Americans, look for new things and grow into different fields. People don’t realize that cricket was partially born in the U.S. The first international game was played between the U.S. and Canada in New York. The 1844 game, played in Bloomingdale Park in Manhattan was one of the earliest international games on record,” Pandya explains in an interview. Possible stadium sites include Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Orlando, Washington, D.C. and East Brunswick, New Jersey. These markets were chosen, in part, for their large Asian populations according to an article on Bisnow.com. “When you have people of South Asian descent who really understand cricket, it helps. But after that it will probably go mainstream with Americans. I believe that will be very quick, because, as Americans, we just love sports. [And] it doesn’t matter what kind of sport,” says Pandya. To jump start the plan, Global Sports Ventures entered a $70 million licensing agreement with the USA Cricket Association (USCA).  More than 32,000 cricket players are registered with the USCA and may become members of the future teams.  There are also several smaller organizations throughout the nation that may serve as sources of talent and...