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Developer has plans for Buckeye cricket stadium

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BUCKEYE — The West Valley is more than a day’s travel away from Sri Lanka.

It’s also quite far from other places where cricket is an immensely popular sport.

That doesn’t faze Tony Mangat. Late last week he announced plans to build a 20,000-seat cricket stadium on land he owns near Interstate 10, just northwest of the Miller Road exit.

“It’s up on a hill, so hopefully, we can take advantage of that in construction and build into part of the hill,” Mangat said. “Our goal is to create a dedicated place for all cricket enthusiasts to enjoy the sport.”

While he freely admits he’s not a cricket player and doesn’t know the rules or much about the game itself, Mangat grew up in India. He understands not only how huge the sport is in places like India, Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. He said there are only a handful of stadiums used for cricket in the U.S., leaving what he sees as a vast business potential.

Not only are there about 5 million Americans who were born in India or whose parents were born there, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but there are other immigrants and their descendants from other countries where they played or enjoyed watching cricket.

Also, Mangat pointed out, millions of other Americans have been exposed to cricket by seeing it played on one of hundreds of U.S. college campuses.

“Arizona State (University) has at least one cricket club,” Mangat said.

Mangat said he wants to make the stadium an international destination. However, it’s unclear if any local or regional leagues would play at the $50 million facility.

He said a cricket field is about 4 acres. That’s enough to place two soccer fields on the grass, or at least one rugby field, if the facility ends up being multipurpose.

Buckeye city officials don't typically comment on projects that are not in their development pipeline yet. Mangat said he spoke with Buckeye staff, who he said seem supportive of the project.

Mangat said he is in the process of rounding up area investors, who are cricket supporters, to help raise $40 million of the $50 million needed to build the facility, known as MG Cricket Stadium.
In addition to using the terrain to his advantage,

Mangat said, he believes he can make adjustments to reduce costs, such as using steel for much of the construction instead of concrete.

He said he hasn’t been to Phoenix Rising Stadium at Wild Horse Pass yet, but plans to look at that facility soon. He said it’s OK with him if his stadium starts out as a fairly isolated destination.
He has no choice in the location. The 30 acres he owns at Miller and I-10 were tough to find.

“There’s no land anywhere, especially toward the middle of everything,” he said.

Mangat, who has lived in the Valley since 1998, said his group is part of a multipurpose sports project in Glendale at Northern Avenue and Loop 101 that will include pickleball courts, a field hockey stadium and indoor basketball courts on 36 acres.

While there are cricket complexes in Los Angeles, Indianapolis and Pearland, Texas, Mangat said MG Cricket Stadium would become the second International Cricket Council-certified stadium in North America, the first west of the Mississippi, and the first cricket stadium in the state of Arizona.

The only other ICC-Certified stadium is located in Lauderhill, Florida. Mangat said that one seats about 10,000 spectators and isn’t designed for everyday professional use.

“There are limited places for cricket players and enthusiasts to play, as games have been played on baseball and soccer fields in recent years,” Mangat said. “We want a facility with accurate accommodations and proper field dimensions.”