Major League Cricket: Shah Rukh Khan buys Los Angeles franchise LA Knight Riders

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has bought a Los Angeles cricket franchise and named it as LA Knight Riders, according to a report in Mumbai Mirror.  Major League Cricket, a cricket tournament on the lines of Indian Premier League (IPL), will be launched very soon in the United States.

“For several years now, we have been expanding the Knight Riders brand globally, and closely watching the potential for T20 cricket in the USA. We are convinced that Major League Cricket has all the pieces in place to execute on its plans and we look forward to making our partnership an enormous success in the coming years,” SRK said in a statement to the publication.

This tournament will be played in the US with six teams - New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.

Khan is the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL and Trinbago Knight Riders in Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

According to the report, one of Khan’s companies is a part of he American Cricket Enterprise, the organising company of the American T20 league, It obtained the rights from USA cricket to conduct the tournament.

Shah Rukh has also obtained 'Indian exclusivity' in the league. This means no IPL team can be part of the American league for at least five years.

The report, citing sources, also added that Khan’s company would contribute towards building cricket stadiums in US cities involved in the tournament.

Major League Cricket is scheduled to kick off from 2022 after the conclusion of IPL in the same year.