The start of week two will see one of the tournament’s most anticipated clashes get underway at the Nassau County Stadium in New York, as India and Pakistan face off in an important Group A encounter on Sunday, June 9. Given that the teams do not meet in bilateral cricket, their matches in ICC events and Asia Cups are always ones to look forward to.
However, if the ICC’s ticketing website is any indicator, it appears that the atmosphere at the venue might not be as electric as many had predicted.
Suboptimal scheduling of matches for local fans
Both matches played so far at the Nassau County Stadium have been marked by empty stands, clearly visible on match broadcasts. South Africa vs Sri Lanka took place on a Monday morning, while India vs Ireland was on Wednesday morning.
With these matches scheduled by the ICC keeping the Indian television audience in mind, the chances of locals attending the games amid their daily schedule are quite low.
Are IND vs PAK tickets still unsold?
The empty stands seen in the New York games so far have been those with a straight view of the pitch, the Premium Club Lounge and Diamond Club ticket categories. The premium tickets were priced at $1,000 for India vs Ireland, but the same seats for India-Pakistan will require fans to fork out $2500 (roughly INR 2.1 lakh). The Diamond Club seats are more expensive still, at $10,000.
ICC and USA cricket have sold these tickets at 900 USD onwards for straight stand views. Some of these stands were selling for 2000 USD for the India 🇮🇳 vs Pakistan 🇵🇰 game later this week
— Kartik Kannan (@kartik_kannan) June 5, 2024
For a new sport for Americans to lap up, there is way too much friction. One has to take… pic.twitter.com/Bny1eC88TO
As of three days before the match, hundreds of these seats are still available to be booked, per the ICC website. Standard tickets for this game also start at $300, double the amount they were priced at for the India-Ireland match. These tickets have been sold out, as well as all the categories up to the Premium Club Lounge seats.
A significant number of tickets for the IND vs PAK game in New York are still available.[/caption]
Improper facilities adding to concerns for fans
Cost is not the only factor affecting the attendance levels in New York. News spreading through word-of-mouth about the poor stadium experience and ticketing process may also have contributed to fans opting to stay away, from the more expensive seats in particular.
https://twitter.com/PeterDellaPenna/status/1798405412384837644
https://twitter.com/PeterDellaPenna/status/1798416293512823076
India vs Pakistan being a marquee clash, the pattern over the years has generally been that tickets are sold out very soon after being made available. As a result, the ICC and tournament sponsors perhaps remained confident that this would be the case this time around as well.
However, with this many seats still unsold so close to the match, it appears that they may just have found the limit to which even the most ardent of supporters are willing or able to loosen their purse strings.
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