<\/a>Bellevue City Council and Mayor take a photo with Seattle Orcas ownership. Ben Ray \/ The Reporter<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
The Orcas and Thunderbolts (the Orcas’ minor league cricket affiliate) have been attempting to give young kids in Washington an opportunity to play the second most popular sport in the world. Back in 2017, when the idea of the MLC was pitched, Somasegar knew they had to gain interest at a grassroots level.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“It was by design when we were thinking of MLC back in 2017. Because it was so new (in the U.S.), we need to put building blocks in place and set up 30-40 cricket academies around the country and minor leagues,” Somasegar said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
One benefit MLC organizers used was the pandemic. Because of the shutdown, it gave MLC a chance to spread the game in individual communities before the professionals came over.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Because of COVID, we knew the major leagues was going to be a little later in launching, so we used that time to go set up academies and launch the minor leagues,” Somasegar said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
What also helps gain interest is winning. The Orcas finished in first place last season and fell to MI New York in the championship game. Keep in mind, this was the first season of the MLC. A new sport to Americans, new teams, new players. The game between MI and Seattle was watched in 87 countries across the world.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“87 countries was an eye-opening kind of thing. Total numbers of viewers were in the tens of millions… For a first season, there was a level of interest and curiosity, and we feel good about the quality of the sport,” Somasegar said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Despite all the success that MLC had in the first season, heading to year two, new challenges await.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“People always say the second time you do something is always the hardest. The first time has no expectations. The second time, there are all these expectations because of what happened the first time… If we can make the second season successful, we will be off to the races,” Somasegar said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
He is hoping that the players aren’t worn out because this year they are third in a string of top-flight cricket events. The Indian Premier League, T20 World Cup and then MLC follows it up.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“We are working really hard to make sure the quality of the game is there. The players, the game, the pitches are all there, so we can look and say ‘this is getting better and better every year,” he said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Building fandom<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t The idea of creating a cricket league in the USA started back in 2017, and originally Seattle was not set to be one of the franchises, according to Somasegar.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “As a league we didn’t know what to expect,” Somasegar said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t A big challenge that faces the MLC and the Orcas is geography. All of the games are split between being played in Texas and North Carolina despite team names being San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Seattle.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t While the season was commencing last year, Somasegar said he met a fan from California who never thought she would see a cricket game in person again. She had traveled to Dallas to watch a game — that is what MLC can do.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “There are people who have driven 700-800 miles to watch a game last year. That kind of love and support is phenomenal, and we didn’t expect that (in year one),” he said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Along with being a new sport, and not being on network television, attending a game is a challenge in and of itself. But events like the one at Bellevue Downtown Park are huge for Orcas ownership to gauge their audience.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t The only way last season to watch Major League Cricket was on WillowTV, a cricket-only paid television channel. Think Disney-Plus, but for cricket. It is probably unfamiliar to most people who are not in the know about the sport of cricket.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Seeing a 1,200-plus crowd show up during the middle of the day on the first Friday in May was impressive for Somasegar and other Orcas front office members.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t On some shirts and on all social media posts, the Orcas are claiming to be “America’s Favorite Cricket Team.” Now there are only six options, but Somasegar is hoping to bring in more fans with a clever slogan and a little help from America’s team.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “We took some inspiration from the Dallas Cowboys… We saw what they do and used some inspiration there and a big fan base is going to make or break cricket here. So we wanted to find something that is going to be catchy, attractive and bring people together,” Somasegar said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “We were just the first to do it, saying it loudly and proudly.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t