Oakland Coliseum hosting 1st Major League Cricket match on West Coast with home team SF Unicorns

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Cricket history is set to be made at the Oakland Coliseum Thursday.

The venue will host the first top-level cricket match on the West Coast.

It's a big deal for Oakland, which stands to reap $3 million in economic benefits from hosting nine matches -- featuring all of Major League Cricket's six teams.

The Coliseum will be home to the local MLC team, the San Francisco Unicorns. The team will face the Washington Freedom Thursday at 6 p.m.

MORE: Major League Cricket, featuring the San Francisco Unicorns, coming to Oakland Coliseum this June

"Now we're beginning to bring that global energy and that global focus to Oakland that has never been done before," said Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee at a press conference.

"You can walk through any park in Fremont on a weekend, and you can see the fields are packed," said Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan. "Families are gathering and people have their homemade wickets in the grass."

Cricket is the world's second most popular sport.