Pennsylvania-based sports development company Global Sports Ventures is "part of an effort to bring a professional cricket league" to the U.S. by '20, according to Tracy Cook of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The firm will "work with real estate giant JLL to plan and build eight cricket stadiums across the country." JLL will "manage the site selection and oversee the development" of the stadiums in Texas, California, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, DC, New Jersey and N.Y. Those locations were "chosen on the basis that the sport already has established followings there, predominantly through Asian populations." Rohan Group Founder & Chair Jignesh Pandya, the Philadelphia real estate developer behind the plan, said that outside of India, the U.S. "makes up cricket's second highest viewership." He added that the Texas stadium "will be in Dallas." JLL Int'l Dir David Demarest said that the stadium's location will be "determined in the next several weeks." The complexes, which Pandya estimates will cost a combined $2.4B to build, would "include a cricket stadium, parking, and mixed-use lifestyle centers with restaurants and hotels, as well as office, residential and retail space." Global Sports Ventures estimates the stadiums will cost between $70-125M each to construct, and the "mixed-use projects will range in cost from" $80-100M. Pandya said that he "expects the projects to receive state and local funding, along with his company's investment." The stadiums "would seat about 25,000 people" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/19).
WON'T BE EASY: In Orlando, Goff & Aslam noted Global Sports Ventures in February entered into a $70M licensing agreement with the United States of America Cricket Association for the "rights to Twenty20 cricket, which is a shorter version of the sport." Pandya said that he was "impressed by JLL's work" with the Braves at SunTrust Park and The Battery Atlanta. But with the pro cricket league "wanting to start up in three years, things would have to go swiftly for the league to get stadiums built" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/18).
