Seattle Orcas: Pacific Northwest's MLC Franchise and Cricket in Washington State

Seattle Orcas

Seattle Orcas are one of the six founding franchises of Major League Cricket (MLC), representing the Seattle metropolitan area in Washington State. Named after the Orca whales native to the Pacific Northwest coastline, the franchise brings a regional identity to its MLC branding. Seattle's tech-heavy economy mirrors Silicon Valley in its concentration of South Asian software engineers who grew up playing and watching cricket.

Pacific Northwest Cricket Community

Seattle and the surrounding Puget Sound region has a growing cricket community — both from South Asian immigrants and from Caribbean and South Asian populations in Portland, Oregon. The Pacific Northwest's mild summers make it suitable for cricket, and the region's outdoor parks have hosted club cricket for decades. The MLC franchise aims to convert this existing community into a professional audience.

MLC's Six-Team Structure

The six MLC teams — Texas Super Kings, MI New York, Los Angeles Knight Riders, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas, and Washington Freedom — are spread strategically across the US to cover major South Asian diaspora population centres. Seattle completes the Pacific coast presence alongside San Francisco, ensuring the western US is represented in MLC.