MLC Season 4 pencilled in for June-July 2026
Since the third season in 2025, the MLC has opted for a window in June-July that ensures no clash with other competitions
ESPNcricinfo staff
10-Sep-2025 • 2 hrs ago
MI New York have won two of the three seasons so far • Sportzpics for MLC
The fourth season of Major League Cricket (MLC) will be held from June 18 to July 18, 2026. Like the previous edition, the six-team competition will feature 34 games in all.
But even with the Season 4 dates now out, there is no public confirmation from USA Cricket (USAC) on whether it has revoked the termination of its contract with American Cricket Enterprises (ACE), the owners of the league.
The confusion has left USA players concerned, as recently stated by Corey Anderson, who is the operational director of USA Cricketers' Association, which is not recognised by USAC.
Since the third season in 2025, MLC has opted for a window in June-July that ensures no clash with other global franchise competitions, allowing for a bigger pool of talent to tap into. Originally a 19-match tournament in 2023 that expanded to 25 matches in 2024, the competition has been a 34-match event since 2025. MLC is set to avoid a clash with the Hundred for the second successive year. The Hundred's dates have not been publicly confirmed but ESPNcricinfo understands it will run from July 21 until August 16.
"Season 3 showed that demand for top-tier cricket in the USA is real and accelerating," Johnny Grave, MLC chief executive, said in a statement. "MLC is winning new fans, followers and viewers throughout the USA and around the world. We're delivering on our promise to grow the game across the USA and build relations with new and existing commercial partners."
According to MLC, ACE is now targeting ten international standard venues by 2030 with investments upwards of US$ 150 million committed.
The six teams participating in the event are Los Angeles Knight Riders (owned by Knight Riders Group), MI New York (Indiawin Sports), San Francisco Unicorns (Anand Rajaraman, Venky Harinarayan), Seattle Orcas (GMR Group, Satya Nadella, S Somasegar), Texas Super Kings (Chennai Super Kings, Anurag Jain, Ross Perot Jr) and Washington Freedom (Sanjay Govil). The MLC is also planning to add two more teams by the 2027 season, with a move to Canada also being explored.
The 2025 edition was won by MI New York, their second title in three seasons, defeating Washington Freedom by five runs in the final.