T20 Cricket is world-famous, and there are many T20 leagues that are played around the globe. Following the introduction of the T20 cricket format in the 21st century, the sport of cricket gained increased popularity. If we talk about the current times, each country where this sport is played has almost a T20 league of their own, where you can see international cricketers taking part. The presence of international cricketers in those T20 leagues makes the leagues world-famous.
Until a few ago, you have not heard of cricket in the United States, but now cricket is getting popular there too all thanks to the Major League Cricket (MLC). MLC is a professional T20 cricket league in the United States organized by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE). In this league, you can see some or most of the international cricketers except Indian players who take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the most popular T20 league in the world.
Beginning of the Major League Cricket (MLC)
The Major League Cricket is comparatively a new T20 league, started in 2023, and the MLC 2025 is the third season of this league. The beginning of this league in the United States is the first successful attempt to bring cricket to this nation. Before that, there were many attempts like the Pro Cricket, which was short-lived as only one season of that league was played in 2004. This was not it as the American Premier League (APL), a T20 cricket tournament, was also planned, scheduled to happen in October 2009, but was postponed.
The first season of MLC happened in 2023, but the base was laid back in November 2018, when USA Cricket announced that it wanted to establish a domestic T20 league in the country. Later in 2019, the USA Cricket, a cricket governing body that looks after cricketing affairs in the US, was formed. A lot has happened after that, but everything remained on paper, and that’s why we are not going to discuss it.
In November 2022, it was finally decided that the first season of MLC would happen, and later it became a reality with the start of Major League Cricket’s first season. Just like other domestic T20 leagues, MLC is also played among city-based cricket teams, and as of the MLC 2025 season, there are six participating teams:
- Los Angeles Knight Riders
- San Francisco Unicorns
- MI New York
- Washington Freedom
- Seattle Orcas
- Texas Super Kings
How is the Major League (MLC) Played?
Like many other T20 tournaments, the teams compete against each other in the round robin format twice. There are 34 cricket matches in the entire MLC tournament, and like the Indian Premier League (IPL), the finalists are decided through Playoffs. The top four ranked teams after the completion of the league matches enter the Playoffs stage, where there will be two qualifier matches and one eliminator match.
For the unversed, the first qualifier will be played between the top two ranked teams in the league stage, and the winner of the first qualifier will directly go to the finals. The next match after the first qualifier will be an eliminator match, played between the third and fourth-ranked teams of the league stage matches, and the loser is eliminated, while the winner will go into the second qualifier, where it competes with the loser of the first qualifier.
The winner of the second qualifier match will earn an entry into the finals of the Major League Cricket tournament. Eventually, you will get the two finalist teams, which will further compete to decide the winner of MLC.
The competitive nature of this tournament makes it earn a spot in the online cricket gambling sites’ betting portfolio. The good news is that people are making huge sums by placing cricket bets on MLC matches. As a cricket fan, MLC provides you with the opportunity to see your favorite cricketing stars live in action in MLC matches.
Winners of the MLC Trophy in Previous Seasons
As you know, MLC’s first season was held in 2023, where six teams participated in the tournament, and after the Playoffs, the two teams that reached the finals were Seattle Orcas and MI New York, and the latter, i.e., MI New York, became the winner. While if we talk about the MLC 2024 season, where two different teams reached the finals, which were Washington Freedom and San Francisco Unicorns, and Washington Freedom emerged as the Winners. The MLC 2025 season is currently being played, so let’s see which team will lift the trophy this season.
This is all about Major League Cricket, a T20 cricket tournament happening in the United States. We have talked about this tournament in detail here, ranging from when it was started, how it is played, and the winners of the two seasons. We hope you liked reading this post. Share your thoughts and feedback in the comments.