Eatertainment has taken off in the USA. We have Chicken N Pickle, TopGolf, PuttShack and Home Run Dugout for those ready to play pickleball, golf or baseball.
What’s Next? Haggis N Cricket, or maybe Cricket N Chips. Maybe even Cricket N Pickle. On the heels of the establishment of Major League Cricket in the USA, the international sport appears ready to welcome visitors.
And as if that’s not a bold enough business move, here’s the kicker: It’s coming to Dallas. Yes, Dallas.
According to Chain Store Age, the British-operated Sixes Social Cricket, a new center-based entertainment brand, is about to debut in Dallas.
CSA adds that Sixes will launch at Dallas’s Grandscape, the 400-acre Berkshire Hathaway mixed-use project whose 1.9 million-sq.-ft. Nebraska Furniture Mart and 331,000-sq.-ft Scheel’s sporting goods store hold true to the claim that “Everything’s bigger in Texas.”
While there is no doubt cricket is growing in the USA, its popularity is propelled by demographic shifts, with a strong following in cities that have an Indian or Pakistani population. But mainstream America has steadfastly remained a cricket-free zone. Hitting balls with bats? That’s only done in baseball and softball, for the most part.
Restaurant Business is quick to point out the irony that while baseball has a World Series, “only teams from North America can compete in it.”
There are different versions of cricket, some with games that can last for days. Fortunately, in Major League Cricket, the discipline of the game is T20, or “white ball,” the relatively speedy version, lasting around three hours. (The longer version is called “red ball,” in case you need some trivia to dazzle your friends.)
“Sixes Social Club will feature tech-enabled batting nets for guests to try their hand at swinging for the boundaries with soft cricket balls (the real ones could cause serious damage) to earn points by hitting targets,” adds Restaurant Business helpfully.
The founders are optimistic about the potential.
“We believe that sport and hospitality hold an unrivalled ability to unite and connect people. We're confident that Sixes will become a staple of the Dallas community,” Sixes co-founder Calum MacKinnon told reporters at Chain Store Age. “It's an exciting time with Major League Cricket launching in Dallas this June, who we'll be working closely with to grow the game and give people more ways to play."
McKinnon and his partner, Andy Waugh, also own a chain of pubs in the U.K.; the menu there includes food like a version of a slider called a Sri LankanFielder (meat and vegan versions) and Veni-Moo Burgers (beef and venison). There are also slider specials served on a cricket bat. At Sixes in Dallas, however, the menu is expected to be a little more, well, domestic, including a Beefy Botham Burger and pizza.
Whether the bar menu will include some of the Sixes U.K. standards like Six on the Beach or Girl Next Door – well, there’s no telling.
According to PR Newswire, Sixes has quickly become one of the most popular social entertainment concepts in the U.K., having bowled over 10 million balls across seven venues since launching in 2020.
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