MLC Los Angeles Knight Riders
The Opportunity
It’s official: Major League Cricket is finally in the United States, and one of the IPL’s favorite teams, the Knight Riders (owned by Shahrukh Khan), has entered the arena.
The Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR) are a professional cricket franchise competing in Major League Cricket (MLC). Ahead of their Summer 2026 debut home matches at the Knight Riders Cricket Ground, Fairplex, Pomona, we led the full influencer campaign planning, creator strategy, creative direction, and project management to generate ticket sales, drive digital awareness, gain exposure, and build excitement across regional and diaspora sports communities in the U.S.
Campaign Strategy
Launching a new sports franchise requires more than announcing match dates. We developed a creator-first campaign designed to build anticipation, generate conversation, and convert online excitement into ticket sales.
Rather than relying on a single audience, we built a layered creator strategy spanning cricket personalities, South Asian lifestyle creators, and Los Angeles-based influencers. Each group played a distinct role in the campaign, from introducing the franchise to driving match-day attendance through direct ticketing calls-to-action.
Our Approach
Every creator was selected based on audience fit, platform strengths, and their ability to speak authentically to the communities the Knight Riders wanted to reach.
Our team identified and vetted talent, managed outreach and negotiations, developed tailored creative briefs, reviewed content, coordinated approvals, and oversaw campaign delivery from first conversation through final posting.
Rather than using one-size-fits-all messaging, each creator received a custom brief informed by their content style, audience behaviour, and highest-performing formats, allowing every partnership to feel native while maintaining a consistent campaign message.
Creative Direction
We didn’t want the content to simply read as “go buy your tickets”. We wanted to create real energy around the fact that cricket was finally in the United States, for good. Previously, diaspora audiences would stay up until odd hours to watch cricket games with their favorite players from thousands of miles away, but with the LAKR, cricket fans could actually go experience these moments in person. More than anything, we wanted to capture the energy of a live cricket match while making the sport accessible to both longtime fans and new audiences.
We worked closely with creators to develop concepts that balanced entertainment with education, combining match-day excitement, player storylines, and stadium experiences with clear ticketing calls-to-action across Instagram and TikTok.
Results
The campaign successfully introduced the Los Angeles Knight Riders to creators and audiences across the United States ahead of their inaugural home matches. Through a coordinated creator strategy and streamlined campaign execution, the franchise launched with a consistent digital presence, meaningful community engagement, and a scalable influencer framework that can support future seasons and ongoing fan growth.
Worked with 5 creators
Delivered 1.7 million total combined views across Instagram and TikTok, driving massive digital exposure for the franchise.
Sparked deep audience engagement, generating 1,058 shares and 612 comments surrounding the home matches.
Built a highly efficient creator roster that achieved a 44.7% active view rate against the primary potential audience base.
Established a scalable influencer marketing playbook for the franchise to activate sports and diaspora creators for future Major League Cricket seasons.
PROJECT CREDITS
Strategy & Project Management
Alina Khan, Afshan Nasseri & Zainab Kermali
Client
Los Angeles Knight Riders, Major League Cricket
