T20 World Cup 2024: Here's why the India vs Pakistan match is not sold out?

The blockbuster India vs Pakistan game in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 might be the first one in recent history to not be a 'housefull'. This is shocking to know for the fans as reports are suggesting that the way the India vs Ireland game witnessed empty stands at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, the much-anticipated game between the arch-rivals might see a lot of empty chairs in every stand as well.

It is shocking in the sense that even a game against Bermuda would be sold out when India played anywhere in the world and in the biggest economy, if the seats are being left empty, questions will be raised.

Why will the India vs Pakistan match see empty seats?

Opaqueness in ticketing procedures

In a recent tweet by cricket journalist Peter de La Penna, who lives in the USA and reports on USA cricket, an Indian fan felt disgruntled as he paid $350 for premium tickets and got a seat where there was not even shade, forget about premium seating.

The opaqueness in ticketing policy and the alleged black marketing of it has caused the enthusiasm to go down among fans.

What is the average salary of Asians in the USA?

The general admission ticket price for India vs Pakistan is $300 while those of the premium ones range between $2,500 to $10,000. This is hugely expensive for the South Asian community in New York, which is mostly the audience for the game.

According to Pew Research, the median monthly income of lower-income Asian households is $2,625 in the USA and that of middle-income households is $9,300. Expecting that they shell out money to buy premium tickets would be too much.

Check ICC T20 World Cup 2024 full schedule, match timings (IST) here

Will the India vs Pakistan game not be a full house?

Since the general admission tickets are sold out already for the IND vs PAK T20 World Cup 2024 game, their black market value is around $1,200 to $1,400 at the moment. Once again, it would be hard for fans to grab them. Therefore, there is a high probability that the match might not be a full house.

Is the ICC T20 World Cup in the US a flop show?

The first 10 matches in the World Cup suggest that the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA has not lived up to the expectations. There are many reasons for this.

Empty Stands

The matches have mostly been low-scoring in New York and also in the Caribbean. This has led to empty stands.

Check ICC T20 World Cup 2024 points table here

Presence of a lot of Associate Nations

The matches in the first stage involve a lot of associate nations for whom the fan base is not strong and hence the audiences are not turning up at the stadium.

Not batting friendly wickets

Not only in the US, which has so far seen matches at the Grand Prairie and the Nassau County Stadiums but even in the Caribbean, the matches are low-scoring. Two of the best matches in the tournament, Namibia vs Oman which ended in a Super Over and Papua New Guinea vs Uganda which saw a thrilling finish, were low-scoring ones.

None of the four teams went past the 150 mark, which is considered an average in T20s nowadays.

Check ICC T20 World Cup latest news updates here

Different time zones for TV viewing

A real dampener has been created by the different time zones. The biggest fans of the game live in the Indian subcontinent which is almost 10-12 hours ahead of the USA time zone. To make sure that those viewers get the matches in that time zone, the matches are being played in the daytime in the USA and the Caribbean. This is bringing the crowd numbers down in stands.

An empty-stands match can never be enjoyed even by the TV audience. Thus, the organisers ICC just can't find a way out of the deep hole they have buried themselves into.