The strategic partners of the emerging USA Cricket, American Cricket Enterprises and the County of Santa Clara have got into an exclusive negotiating agreement (ENA) concerned for the state-of-the-art cricket stadium project planned in the city, San Jose of California, US.
According to this ENA, the signatories will design and seek approvals on the formalities and functionalities of the overall project proposed on a 14-acre site in the famous location of Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. This agreement termed for one year will allow both the partners to decide upon the bottlenecks of the project. This project, with Apple and Google headquarters located nearby in the Silicon Valley, would aim to attract new fans and translate cricket’s popularity beyond the boundaries of South Asia.
The 50 million dollar stadium development plan will have a 6000-8000 capacity of seating with future enhancement potential to 15000 people. The target of both the parties especially, ACE is to construct the 1st phase of the project before the 2024 ICCÂ T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the USA in collaboration with West Indies. With the success of this agreement and the completion of other legalities of the project, ACE could begin with the construction in early January 2023.
The desired project will become the home stadium of the San Francisco Bay Area franchise of the Major League Cricket and three other minor league cricket teams namely Silicon Valley Strikers, Golden State Grizzlies, and the East Bay Blazers. The San Francisco Bay Area along with Dallas, Los Angeles, Raleigh and Fort Lauderdale will be the host cities for the USA phase of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
ACE has committed to maintain and improvise at least six ICC grade stadiums containing a seating capacity of 6000 to 12000 fans. The local fraternity of this sport has also witnessed the increase in turf wicket grounds in the area as an effort by the ACE to change the landscape of cricket in the United States.