Yahoo Sports $40,000 cricket tickets: T20 World Cup, Pakistan-India demand, drives skyrocketing prices
Less than 10 days after the general ticket sales for the ICC Men's T20 Cricket World Cup went live, tickets have already made their way to resale websites, such as StubHub and SeatGeek, with prices that could rival the NBA or Major League Baseball.
Tickets for sold-out matches such as Pakistan vs. India in New York on Jun. 9 or India vs. Canada on Jun. 15 in Lauderhill are being sold for at least twice their original prices.
In the official sales, match tickets started at $6, with the most expensive ticket for premium seating at the Pakistan vs. India match for $400 without taxes. The ICC had specified that "no additional fees will be imposed beyond the specified taxes".
On the resale website, VIP tickets for the same match are being offered for more than $40,000 each with fees close to $10,000 bringing the total price to more than $50,000. The cheapest ticket for the Pakistan vs. India match on StubHub is $1,259, as of Friday afternoon.
On SeatGeek, the highest priced ticket for the Pakistan vs. India match is close to $175,000 with $50,000 in fees bringing the total price to a little less than a quarter of a million dollars. Meanwhile, the lowest priced ticket for the match on SeatGeek is $1,166 without tax or fees, as of Friday afternoon.
By comparison, the average World Series ticket cost about $1,100 last year, courtside seats for the NBA finals were going for as much as $24,000 and the average price for a ticket to Super Bowl 58 was about $9,000 on the secondary market.
Tickets for other matches in the tournament, especially those in which India are playing are also being resold at higher prices, though not as high as Pakistan vs. India, which the most sought-after of the tournament, according to the ICC, with the match "more than 200-times oversubscribed," during the public ticket ballot.
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Tournament director says tickets received a 'tremendous response'
ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament director Fawwaz Baksh, speaking to USA TODAY last month said that the response was "well beyond" their expectations.
"We expected that to have a good interest in tickets, both in the West Indies and the U.S., especially the novelty of being a World Cup," Baksh said to USA TODAY. "But the response we've got is actually very, very exciting. Very well beyond our expectations actually."
"Being a new market, you're not always sure what the response will be, but it was almost an easy job getting people in," he said. "They definitely want to see the magic."
Despite the managing committee's best efforts, scores of fans were unable to secure tickets for their preferred matches.
"It's an unfortunate reality that not everyone who applied for tickets will get tickets," Baksh said Friday. "I wish everyone could get a ticket but that's just not possible."
Baksh is hopeful that tickets for some matches may become available if sponsors and other stakeholders return tickets to the pool. He encourages those wishing to attend the matches to keep an eye on the ticket portal for a chance to secure tickets for the matches of their choice.
"If they're still unsuccessful, they can still enjoy the tournament and feel part of the action by visiting the fan parks and participating in the many activities that will be planned leading up to the tournament and around tournament time," he added.
What to expect from the T20 World Cup? Tournament director says cricket matches will be 'very, very exciting'
How to get ICC T20 World Cup match tickets?
General tickets for the 2024 T20 World Cup were available to purchase on first-come-first-serve basis on the tournament website from Feb. 22. Tickets for popular matches sold out almost immediately, however, there are a number of matches for which tickets are still available.
A public ticket ballot also ran from Feb. 1 to Feb. 7 and all applicants, both successful and unsuccessful were notified of the results before the general ticket sales opened on Feb. 22. Close to 6 million applications were received from across the world for the matches, said Cricket West Indies.
What ticket categories are available?
Tickets are available in the following categories, depending on the stadiums and venues:
Premium
Standard Plus
Standard
Grounds and Mounds / Standing Room Only (SRO)
ICC said all stadiums in the event are "divided into different enclosures which have different views of the field of play and may have differing degrees of shade".
What to know about the 2024 T20 World Cup
Fifty-five matches will be played across nine cities – three in the U.S. and six in the Caribbean, according to the I.C.C., with the opening match between Canada and the U.S. to be held on June 1 at Grand Prairie Stadium in the Dallas metro area, and the grand finale on June 29 in Barbados. The semi-finals will take place in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.
New York City will host the much-anticipated clash between Pakistan and India on June 9, according to the schedule released by the ICC.
England enters the year as defending champions, having beaten Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup final in Melbourne. The series will mark Canada, USA and Uganda's first appearances at a Men's T20 World Cup.
ICC World Cup venues
Matches will be played at the following stadiums in the United States:
Central Broward Park – Lauderhill, Florida, USA
Eisenhower Park – Nassau County, Long Island, New York, USA
Grand Prairie Stadium – Grand Prairie, Texas, USA
Matches will be played at the following stadiums in West Indies:
Kensington Oval – Bridgetown, Barbados
Daren Sammy Cricket Ground – Gros Islet, Saint Lucia
Arnos Vale Stadium – Kingstown, Saint Vincent
Brian Lara Cricket Academy – San Fernando, Trinidad
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: T20 World Cup cricket, Pakistan India, demand surging ticket prices
