In Nepal, voices for developing state-of-the-art stadiums have been raised for the past few years.

Now, they are getting louder.

Nepal does not have a single stadium of good standards, although cricket has gained unprecedented popularity over the past two decades. This was gauged by the fact that even the dusty cricket ground in Kirtipur hosted more than 10,000 audiences a day and generated millions of rupees in revenue.

Investing in sports infrastructure has a significant economic impact.

High-quality facilities attract national and international competition, boosting local economies through tourism, job creation, and increased spending on local businesses. Investing in athletics infrastructure is a long-term investment in youth development.

According to reports, major athletics events in India increased local tourism by up to 30 percent, generating millions in revenue. For example, the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi generated an estimated $210 million in economic impact for the city.

According to an economic report of the International Cricket Council, the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, which took place between October 5 and November 19 across 10 cities, the biggest Cricket World Cup ever generated an incredible total economic impact of $1.39 billion for the Indian economy.

The Nepal Premier League (NPL), a men's T20 cricket league, also garnered commercial value, though relatively smaller, after it roped in the country’s top businesses and corporate houses.

Market analysts say that NPL may emerge as a key sporting event of high value in the coming days.

It brought together many new faces who had dreamt of playing cricket for the nation.

Tech-savvy politicians from across the spectrum quickly congratulated the teams on social media platforms like X and Facebook.

But most Nepali politicians, including those who often became ministers, appear indifferent to enhancing Nepal’s sports infrastructure and national players’ social and financial health.

Nevertheless, at the Kirtipur ground, ministers and politicians who take sports as leisure and deem it unnecessary to allocate a budget to construct infrastructure were seen rooting players.

Two former prime ministers—Sher Bahadur Deuba and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who served in the top executive office for five and three terms, respectively—presented trophies in the final. The incumbent KP Sharma Oli, however, was conspicuously absent. On social media platforms, Nepalis speculated that the Oli had skipped the final event intentionally because he had “no answer” on why sports lacked state-of-the-art infrastructure.

Tens of thousands of cricket lovers from around the country thronged the TU cricket ground in Kirtipur, rooting for their native teams at the NPL. Some even climbed trees to witness the spectacle.

Restaurants, hotels, ride-hailing services and small businesses were also excited because of the business boom.

The Cricket Association of Nepal estimates the overall economic impact of the tournament to be in the neighbourhood of Rs1 billion. Each franchise team spent an average of Rs50 million.

“Many top national and international companies now want to buy the franchise of NPL,” Chhumbi Lama, spokesperson of the Cricket Association of Nepal, the official governing body of cricket in Nepal, recently told Kantipur TV, one of the Post’s sister organisations.

“It is now established as a brand. It is priceless.”

Ghirendra Ghimire, co-owner of Karnali Yaks, one of the eight NPL franchise teams, told Kantipur TV, “We knew cricket was developing as hype. We thought that the private sector should also invest in sporting events. We were quite excited from the beginning.”

Indian sports channel Star Sports covered the domestic cricket league for the first time. At the same time, the participation of international cricketing stars like Shikhar Dhawan, James Neesham, Ben Cutting, and Ravi Bopara significantly raised the tournament’s standards.

Brian Lara’s promotion of the NPL T20 was a spectacular highlight.

“All players have a dream to play with high-standard international players. Many have fulfilled that dream,” Sharad Vesawkar, former national player and a professional cricketer, told the TV. “Some Nepali players became stars overnight. Many have a platform to perform and will soon be able to prove themselves.”

Karnali Yaks spinner Bipin Sharma emerged as the new star of Nepali cricket and could soon be a household name. The 16-year-old took 13 wickets in the competition and was declared the Emerging Player of the Tournament, earning him a scholarship worth Rs1 million.

Women’s football was also in the limelight in 2024. In October, thousands of fans packed stadiums in Nepal to watch a closely contested SAFF Women’s Championship final with Bangladesh at Kathmandu's Dasharath Stadium. Though Bangladesh overpowered Nepal, keeping Nepal's dream of a first-ever major title win unfulfilled, the support of audiences also showed the commercial aspect of sports, which until today has been limited to government sponsorship.

In August, two months before the SAFF Women’s final, the ground at the Dasharath Stadium—the country’s only international standard football stadium—became the subject of global ridicule.

Bhutan’s Paro FC and Japanese football icon Keisuke Honda were forced to play their AFC Challenge League qualification playoff against Martyrs Memorial A-Division League champions Church Boys in a waterlogged and muddy field.

In March, the Nepal national men’s football team were compelled to play their home matches of the second round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 Asian Cup to neutral venues after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) deemed the stadium’s ground substandard to host international matches.

Besides, Nepali football remained bogged down by administrative inefficiency. All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) failed to organise the Martyrs Memorial A-Division League this year.

After a two-year hiatus, the football governing body finally held the Women's league. Still, ANFA has yet to announce the fixtures for the Super League stage, adding to the uncertainty.

These unpopular events dented Nepal’s sporting image, highlighting the need to invest in infrastructure in a massive way where sports have a huge fan base.

Whatever the results were on the field, 2024 was mixed with high hopes, disappointment, and moments of glory that captured the nation’s imagination.

The year began with cricket basking in the afterglow of once-unthinkable achievements in the past year that saw the national team retain their ODI status, qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers, maiden Asia Cup and their second T20 World Cup.

However, the men’s team faced a series of disappointments.

Despite starting the year strong with a 3-0 clean sweep of Canada in the ODI series at the TU Cricket Ground in February, Nepal struggled in League 2, losing eight of their 12 matches, including two games that ended with no result.

Nepal had a disastrous ACC Men’s T20 Premier Campaign, failing to qualify for their second Asia Cup.

Nepal’s T20 World Cup campaign in June ended with no win but had a close contest with Test-playing nations South Africa and Bangladesh.

The Nepali women’s U-19 team added to the year’s highlights, qualifying for their first ICC U-19 World Cup, taking place in 2025.

There was something historic to cheer about in August.

Palesha Goverdhan created history on August 31 as she won a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, becoming the first-ever athlete from Nepal to win a Paralympic medal, the highest sporting honour for the country.

Goverdhan’s success came just a year after Arika Gurung won a historic silver medal in karate at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Women’s volleyball in Nepal faced its own set of struggles. Players’ meagre salaries and a lack of investment hampered progress. Despite these obstacles, the team reached the final of the CAVA Women’s Volleyball Nations League, only to fall short of clinching their first major international title at home.