Can Cricket Reach Worldwide Popularity? 

In the world of sport, there are different tiers of popularity. Some sports are “global”, while others are stuck in the tier below. This tier is for sports that have a big following in specific countries but haven’t been able to (yet) take over the world — and cricket is one of them.

Cricket has been around for hundreds of years. The history books trace it back to 16^th century England, where cricket was officially created. Flashforward all these centuries later and cricket has established itself as a major sport, with an especially large audience in South Asia. However, cricket has been unable to crack the USA, Canada, Africa, and large parts of Europe. In this guide, you can discover the reasons why. 

???? Where is Cricket Most Popular? 

Cricket is most popular in: 

???? India

???? Pakistan

???? Sri Lanka

???? Bangladesh

???? Australia 

It also has a large following in the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and various other big countries. However, it’s India where cricket is most popular, with an estimated 125.2 million cricket fans living in the country. 

Last year, during the 2023 Cricket World Cup, a huge 518 million Indian people watched the tournament, which surpassed India’s previous viewership record.. Before the final, Indian betting sites were jam-packed with cricket fans placing bets on India or Australia to win the trophy. In the end, Australia came out on top and took home their sixth title. 

Over the years, India has produced some of the world’s greatest ever cricket players, including the likes of Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, while also having an international cricket team that has won five major ICC tournaments along the way. As of today, India sits just behind Australia as the second-best cricket country in the world on the ICC rankings. 

???? Why Cricket Has Not Become a Global Sport 

So, despite major popularity in India, Australia, and other countries, cricket has still been unable to become a global sport. Why is this? There are several reasons. It’s time to unpack some of the main ones. 

The Dominance of Football 

Football is the most popular sport in the world and has over 3.5 billion fans. Because football has such a strong following throughout Europe, Africa, and even parts of America, it’s made it extremely difficult for cricket to get a global foothold. This has been made even more difficult due to the fact that football has the world’s biggest sports tournaments (FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League) under its belt, which have unparalleled levels of excitement behind them. 

Longer Matches

Cricket matches are some of the longest of any sport. They last (on average) just under 8 hours and are played over 5 days, which is off-putting for many casual sports fans who don’t want to commit that amount of time to watching a game, especially when football, baseball, and other popular sports have much shorter lengths. 

No Olympics Exposure  

The Olympics have helped to grow countless sports over the decades, including swimming and gymnastics. Unfortunately, cricket hasn’t been an Olympic sport for over a hundred years, so it’s not had the same level of exposure that other sports get. However, the good news is that (for the first time in 128 years) cricket is returning to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, which is definitely something for cricket fans to be excited about. 

✅ Conclusion: Cricket Is Unlikely to Become a Global Sport in the Future 

Although the 2028 Olympics will help to put cricket back on the global sports map, it’s hard to see a way for cricket to reach the same popularity level of football and other big hitting sports. The only way this would change is if cricket received higher levels of funding and the match format was changed to be shorter and more fast-paced.