Cricket at the LA 2028 Olympics will be played at one single venue: the Knight Riders Cricket Ground, officially listed as the Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium, inside the Fairplex complex in Pomona, California.
The ground will grow from 5,000 seats today to a 15,000-capacity arena by the time the Games begin, hosting all 28 men’s and women’s matches from July 12 to 29, 2028.
Quick Facts: LA28 Cricket Venue at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Venue name | Knight Riders Cricket Ground / Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium |
| Location | Fairplex, Pomona, California |
| Distance from Downtown LA | Around 50 km (30 miles) east |
| Olympic capacity | 15,000 by 2028 |
| Construction cost | $21 million |
| Tenant club | Los Angeles Knight Riders (Major League Cricket) |
| Cricket dates at LA28 | July 12 to July 29, 2028 |
| Total matches | 28 (men’s and women’s combined) |
| Format | T20, six teams per gender |
Where Is the LA28 Olympics Cricket Venue Located?
The venue sits inside Fairplex, a sprawling fairground in Pomona, a city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County. It is roughly 50 kilometres from downtown Los Angeles, which puts it well within the greater LA Olympic footprint.
Organisers looked at venues on the East Coast too. A West Coast return would have meant better prime-time slots for Indian audiences. But they kept the tournament inside LA County so players could stay in the Olympic Village like every other athlete at the Games.
Fairplex: The 500-Acre Ground With a Century of History
Fairplex is not a new name in Southern California. The near-500-acre complex has hosted the Los Angeles County Fair since 1922 and runs concerts, trade shows and sporting events all year round.
That track record mattered during venue selection. Fairplex has successfully hosted concerts drawing 40,000 to 60,000 people, proof it can handle Olympic-scale crowds and logistics without breaking a sweat.
Knight Riders Cricket Ground or Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium? The Naming Explained
You’ll see this venue called by two different names, and both are correct. LA28’s official venue page lists it as Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium, which is the name used across Olympic ticketing and venue guides.
Source – X
Away from the Olympics, the same ground goes by Knight Riders Cricket Ground. That’s because the Knight Riders Group, led by Shah Rukh Khan, is funding and building the permanent stadium as the year-round home of their Major League Cricket franchise.
So think of it this way: Knight Riders Cricket Ground is the everyday name, and Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium is the Olympic branding for the same plot of land.
Stadium Capacity: From 5,000 Seats to a 15,000-Arena
The stadium won’t open at Olympic size. It’s being built in phases, growing bigger as MLC seasons and the Games get closer.
| Year | Seating Capacity |
|---|---|
| 2026 (opening) | 5,000 |
| 2027 | 12,000 |
| 2028 (Olympics) | 15,000 |
Construction Timeline and Cost
The $21 million stadium broke ground in Pomona in April 2026, in a ceremony attended by Pomona mayor Tim Sandoval, Fairplex CEO Walter Marquez, Knight Riders Sports CEO Venky Mysore and ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta. The ceremony opened with a “bhumi pujan,” a traditional Hindu ritual marking the start of construction.
Once finished, this becomes only the second purpose-built cricket stadium in MLC’s history, after Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas. It’s also the only stadium Knight Riders Group has built from scratch anywhere in the world, despite owning franchises across India, the Caribbean and the UAE.
The Pitch and Stadium Design
Unlike the drop-in modular pitch used at Nassau County for the 2024 T20 World Cup, this ground is growing a genuine turf pitch on-site. Photos from the groundbreaking show fresh grass being cultivated for a proper cricket surface rather than a temporary transplant.
The venue is being built in a modular fashion, meaning stands and infrastructure can expand as capacity grows through 2026, 2027 and 2028. That approach keeps costs down while still delivering a proper Olympic-standard ground by 2028.
Why This Venue? The Selection Logic
Only a handful of dedicated cricket grounds exist in the United States today, in Texas, Florida and North Carolina. LA needed something built specifically for the sport rather than borrowing a baseball or football field.
Fairplex checked every box organisers needed: enough land for the field, practice nets and fan zones, an existing events license, and close enough to the Olympic Village that players wouldn’t lose hours in transit each day.
Match Format: Why One Venue Hosts All 28 Cricket Matches
Cricket needs just one ground at LA28, and that’s by design. Both the men’s and women’s tournaments use six teams split into two groups of three, each playing T20 cricket, 20 overs a side.
Every team plays the other two in its group once. Then, in a cross-over phase, each side plays the two teams from the opposite group that didn’t finish in the same position. The top two from the combined table meet for gold and silver, while third and fourth play off for bronze.
That structure adds up to 28 matches total across both genders, all inside the same 2.5-week window, all on the same ground.
LA28 Cricket Schedule at the Venue
| Event | Dates |
|---|---|
| Women’s tournament | July 12 to July 20, 2028 |
| Women’s gold medal match | July 20, 2028 |
| Men’s tournament | July 22 to July 29, 2028 |
| Men’s gold medal match | July 29, 2028 |
Matchdays typically run as double headers, with games starting at 9:00 AM and 6:30 PM local Los Angeles time. That schedule converts to 9:30 PM and 7:00 AM IST, giving Indian audiences a late-night and early-morning viewing window.
Major League Cricket: The Venue’s Test Run Before the Olympics
Before it ever hosts an Olympic ball, the ground gets a proper stress test. Seven MLC matches are scheduled at the venue during the 2026 season, including three home games for the Los Angeles Knight Riders between July 1 and 5, 2026.
That run of matches lets organisers iron out pitch behaviour, crowd flow and broadcast logistics years ahead of the real event. It’s the same playbook cricket boards use whenever a brand-new ground opens for international duty.
Teams Already Confirmed for LA28 Cricket
Qualification is still unfolding, but the women’s draw already has four names locked in through the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.
| Team | Route to Qualification |
|---|---|
| Australia | Oceania’s top-ranked eligible team |
| Great Britain (via England) | Europe’s top-ranked eligible team |
| India | Asia’s top-ranked eligible team |
| South Africa | Africa’s top-ranked eligible team |
The remaining women’s berth goes to hosts USA if they crack the top 15 of the ICC Women’s T20I rankings by December 31, 2026, while the sixth and final spot in both the men’s and women’s draws will be settled at a dedicated ICC Olympics Qualifier in 2027.
As of June 30, 2026, the USA sits 13th in the men’s rankings and 20th in the women’s rankings, so that host spot is genuinely up in the air. No men’s teams have qualified yet; that picture clears up once continental rankings settle on December 31, 2026.
How to Reach Fairplex: Travel Tips for Fans
LA28 is pushing a “no-car Games” approach, so public transit will be the most efficient way to reach Fairplex on matchdays. Expect shuttle services and dedicated transit links from central LA, similar to how other 2028 venues outside the city core will operate.
Given the 50 km distance from downtown, fans flying in should factor in extra travel time compared with venues closer to the Olympic core, like SoFi Stadium or Crypto.com Arena.
Conclusion: A Historic Gateway for Global Cricket
The selection of the Fairgrounds in Pomona (Fairplex) as the exclusive venue for cricket’s historic return at the LA 2028 Olympic Games represents a brilliant masterclass in strategic planning, balancing a unified Games footprint with global commercial reach.
By keeping the men’s and women’s T20 tournaments within Los Angeles County instead of shifting to the East Coast, organizers have preserved the authentic Olympic experience, allowing cricket players to reside in the main Olympic Village while still catering to prime-time broadcasting slots in major Asian markets.
Ultimately, this temporary 15,000-seat modular stadium perfectly aligns with LA28’s commitment to cost-effective sustainability, serving as the ultimate physical launchpad to introduce a fast-paced, modern era of cricket to a brand-new American audience under the iconic Olympic rings.
FAQs
No. Every men’s and women’s match, all 28 of them, takes place at Fairplex in Pomona. That’s unusual for an Olympic sport, but it keeps logistics simple for the very first Olympic cricket tournament since 1900.
The ground opens at 5,000 seats and expands to 15,000 by the 2028 Games, matching the scale needed for a global Olympic audience.
Yes. Unlike a temporary pop-up ground, this is a permanent facility. It stays on as the home of the Los Angeles Knight Riders in Major League Cricket well beyond 2028.
LA28 hasn’t opened cricket ticket sales yet. Expect details closer to 2027, following the usual Olympic ticket lottery and phased release process.
Cricket hasn’t had an Olympic home since 1900, and now it has one purpose-built for the job. Fairplex in Pomona goes from county fairground to Olympic cricket stadium, and every men’s and women’s match in LA28’s history will be played on that one ground.