BBC Sport: Why are some World Cup matches so poorly attended?

[sage]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/67118882

 

But the crowds, or lack of them, at matches continues to be a point of discussion.

BBC Sport looks at the issues involved...

What have the crowds been like?

India matches aside, there have been swathes of empty seats at matches involving neutral teams.

The tournament began with England's defeat by New Zealand, played at the massive Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Organisers said 45,000 tickets were sold for that match, which would make it the highest attended opener in World Cup history. But there were more than 80,000 empty seats in the 132,000-capacity venue.

Since then there have been some good crowds - England v Afghanistan in Delhi one obvious example between neutral teams - mixed in with underwhelming attendances in a country famed for its love of cricket.

Official figures have been difficult to obtain from organisers.

The World Cup is an International Cricket Council (ICC) event but is run at a day-to-day level by the hosts, in this case the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

There was no number given, despite repeated requests, for the attendance at Saturday's meeting between India and Pakistan in Ahmedabad, for what many expected to be a record crowd for a cricket match.

More than 95% of tickets were sold for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. Early signs suggest that will not be matched in India, although English cricket stadiums are much smaller than those in India.

The 45,000 at that first match would have filled Lord's and left another 14,000 stood outside.

 

 

What have the problems been?

 

There have been widespread reports on social media of fans struggling with the online platform used to sell and distribute tickets, with matches or sections of the ground shown as sold out, only to be largely empty.

There was confusion when thousands of tickets were released on the day of India's match against Australia in Chennai - a fixture previously believed to have already been sold out.

BBC Sport has spoken to England fans on flights to matches who have not received their tickets, while others have been told theirs had to be collected from entirely different cities from where the match was being played.

This all comes after the schedule for the tournament was not finalised until August - tickets went on sale less then six weeks before it began, making it difficult for fans to plan travel from overseas or other parts of India.

Visas have been a problem too.

Fans have been largely unable to travel from Pakistan because of the political situation between the two countries, with Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur a critic of the partisan nature of the crowd for their match against India.

 

 

What else is at play?

 

Many have suggested the low crowds are evidence of the slow death of the 50-over format.

India certainly has little trouble filling stadia for the Indian Premier League - the most lucrative of the T20 franchise leagues.

Those matches largely happen in the evenings, after locals finish work, whereas most World Cup matches have started at 14:00 local time, although crowds have grown in the late afternoon when temperatures are also cooler.

Crowds at India matches suggests the Indian public loves Indian cricket. Whether that extends to neutral matches is less certain.

The multi-cultural nature of the UK's population certainly helps when it comes to attendances at non-England games in 2019.

It should also be said that last year's T20 World Cup in Australia had some strong crowds - 90,000 watched India v Pakistan in Melbourne - but also many poorly attended games.

This is the third men's World Cup in as many years across formats, with another T20 edition to follow in seven months after the 2023 event ends.

Yet when world champions England, with IPL stars like Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, face South Africa, who will include the likes of Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada, in Mumbai on Saturday, it will worry organisers if the 33,000-capacity Wankhede Stadium is full of empty seats.

 

[kubrickian]

General lack of interest in ODI format. The format is a bit too long and there is a long and dull passage from 11th over to 40th over. Also, many of the games tend to be one sided. 

 

In IPL, the format is T20, much shorter, also more entertainment packed. The sides are also evenly matched which lead to more close contests and tight finishes.  Honestly, I'm not a big fan of IPL(or any league cricket) but I can see how the average cricket fan will be more entertained by an IPL game than a non India ODI game.

Edited October 21, 2023 by kubrickian

[MediumPacer]

This is the highest attended wc in history,if it ain't enough then it was never good enough to begin with.

[R!TTER]

51 minutes ago, sage said:

But there were more than 80,000 empty seats in the 132,000-capacity venue.

I'm sure they counted it by hand

[Vilander]

BBC is run by rabid pakistanis who hate India. This is the highest attended wc in history, nothing is wrong with the game or the way the wc is being run. Yes ticketing and ground facilities can always improve in India. 

[Austin 3:!6]

I don't think its due to lack of interest in ODIs. Ind-Aus 3 match ODIs prior to the world cup had brilliant crowd. The Aus-SA series also had doves in attendance. ODI is a brilliant format and only BCCI appologists are giving this excuse to hide the mismanagement of BCCI. Had this world cup is in England, the stadiums will be full like in 2019 WC.

 

BCCI screwed this tournament from the start and almost treated it like its orphan child. Tickets were not sold on time, schedule was not finalized till final hours, opening ceremony which was initially planned got cancelled, planned to do a ceremony before Pak game but choose not to telecast it live due to fear of backlash...the endless mismanagement. Also, the conditions of the ground, the outfield, dirty seats etc doesn't feel the world cup been held in the home of the richest board. BCCI would NEVER do these in IPL

[BH-BAIB]

No better place to hold odi WC than India. Every ODI WC should be held in India 

[BH-BAIB]

1 hour ago, Vilander said:

BBC is run by rabid pakistanis who hate India. This is the highest attended wc in history, nothing is wrong with the game or the way the wc is being run. Yes ticketing and ground facilities can always improve in India. 

Oh then this is r***i rona

[kubrickian]

55 minutes ago, Austin 3:!6 said:

I don't think its due to lack of interest in ODIs. Ind-Aus 3 match ODIs prior to the world cup had brilliant crowd. The Aus-SA series also had doves in attendance. ODI is a brilliant format and only BCCI appologists are giving this excuse to hide the mismanagement of BCCI. Had this world cup is in England, the stadiums will be full like in 2019 WC.

 

BCCI screwed this tournament from the start and almost treated it like its orphan child. Tickets were not sold on time, schedule was not finalized till final hours, opening ceremony which was initially planned got cancelled, planned to do a ceremony before Pak game but choose not to telecast it live due to fear of backlash...the endless mismanagement. Also, the conditions of the ground, the outfield, dirty seats etc doesn't feel the world cup been held in the home of the richest board. BCCI would NEVER do these in IPL

I'm not sure which World Cup you watched but I remember most of the games which didnt involve India or England, were played in empty stadiums. But nobody complained back then.

[Bigg Brother]

Crowd is just fine. And Indian fans aren't obliged to fill the stadium just to prove it is cricket crazy nation. The crowd for ODI format is good enough. And these Aussie-England fans and media can rant about it, nobody cares. 

 

 

The bigger problem is why foreigners aren't travelling to India to watch their home team playing... 

[Suhaan]

ICC Paise ki hawas karega toh kya hoga?

Har saal BC 1 ICC konsa chewt sports organisation karata hai

The charm of t20wcs will also go down you'll see,mark these lines

 

No one is interested in every ICC each year, there's simply no buzz

There's IPL for it,people get to see new players

 

[BlueBlood]

Interest in 50 over and test cricket is dying.

 

Even Indian fans are only coming for Indian matches and because of the world cup brand.

 

If India loses this world cup, then 50 overs cricket is dead for good.

 

We already see extremely poor attendance even in India for tests. Only Ashes and that too during Boxing Day tests get full attendance.

 

It's just the times we are in where people have tons of entertainment options right on their phone.

 

Cricket should adapt and I think it's time we also create stadiums which will take rain out of the picture. You don't see Soccer and American football stopping due to rain or snow.

[Trichromatic]

I would have attended all India games, if I could get tickets. I know many who would do the same.

[Trichromatic]

BCCI released Ind-Aus match tickets on match day. How is anyone is suppose to travel from other cities?

[cricketfan28]

t20 killed everything 

[Vilander]

4 hours ago, Bigg Brother said:

The bigger problem is why foreigners aren't travelling to India to watch their home team playing... 

yup.. they will be perfectly fine to go to which ever middle eastern country and go through shitty conditions and crowds. But if it’s India oh it’s so much of a trouble, the food the people the lack of facilities. Fcuk them. Don’t care about it, I can assure you west is not that better. 

[Vilander]

2 hours ago, Trichromatic said:

have attended all India games,

This is not a problem. They are wondering why not other matches lol. I wonder where their people are at. 

[Vilander]

The other reason is inflation all around the world and higher interest rates. 

[Tattieboy]

5 hours ago, Bigg Brother said:

Crowd is just fine. And Indian fans aren't obliged to fill the stadium just to prove it is cricket crazy nation. The crowd for ODI format is good enough. And these Aussie-England fans and media can rant about it, nobody cares. 

 

 

The bigger problem is why foreigners aren't travelling to India to watch their home team playing... 

When I am in Ahmedabad in February I will tell you exactly why they are not . Btw it's February because I was going to go in December to watch the women's series v England but with 6 weeks to go the BCCI haven't decided yet where it's going to be . There is one clue 

[Lord]

The scheduled was announced at the 11th hour and ticketing scam ensured non Indian fans have literally no chance to attend WC.

 

Been a farce like 2007. Not a patch on 2011 WC