Two-time T20 World Cup champion Chris Gayle and USA bowler Ali Khan lit up the Empire State Building in New York to launch the Trophy Tour for the upcoming tournament.

The ninth edition of the Men's T20 World Cup begins on June 1, 2024 and will be played across the USA and West Indies.

The official launch of the trophy tour for the event took place at the famous Empire State Building in New York as the iconic skyscraper lit up in navy and pink - the official tournament colours – with Chris Gayle pulling the lever to illuminate the structure.

This will be the first ICC event taking place in the United States and will occur across three venues – the brand new 34,000-seater Nassau County International Stadium in New York, the rennovated Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas and the Broward County Stadium in Lauderhill.

New York will host eight matches, while the other two venues will host four games each.

West Indies, who are the co-hosts of the event, will have matches taking place at iconic venues such as Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.

The trophy tour will reach 15 countries across four continents passing sporting teams and stadia, famous landmarks and legendary cricketers to invite fans to participate in the 'Out of this World' cricket festival and glimpse at T20 World Cup's most coveted prize.

In addition to these 15 countries, the trophy will also visit emerging Americas cricket countries like Argentina, Brazil and Canada to entice new fans to the sport.

"With less than three months to go until the first ball of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024, there is huge anticipation for what will be a historic event for cricket in the Americas," said Claire Furlong, ICC General Manager, Marketing and Communications.

"As we countdown to the World Cup, the Trophy Tour provides fans with the opportunity to be part of the event in locations across the globe. The Tour will travel extensively across the Americas, igniting the passion of both new and existing fans to share in the excitement of T20 cricket's pinnacle global event coming to the region and what better way to kick it off than by lighting up one of the world's most iconic buildings in one of the world's most iconic cities.

"Cricket has more than a billion fans and we want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to get up close with the trophy that will be lifted by the winning captain in Barbados on 29 June." 

Fans around the world will be able to follow the Trophy Tour via ICC's social media channels and the T20 World Cup site.

Following huge public demand, ICC recently also decided to release additional tickets to 51 out of the 55 matches. These tickets will now be available to matches in all nine host locations from 10h00 Antigua Standard Time today. Fans can create an account and secure their World Cup experience at tickets.t20worldcup.com site.

The Trophy Tour Schedule for the first month is available below:

18 - 20 March: New York
21 - 23 March: Houston, Grand Prairie and Dallas
26 - 27 March: Buenos Aires
28 - 29 March: Sao Paulo
3 - 4 April: Jamaica
13 - 14 April: Barbados
17 - 18 April: Antigua and Barbuda
19 - 20 April: Saint Lucia