T20 World Cup co-hosts and two-time champions West Indies kicked off their campaign on Sunday against minnow Papua New Guinea at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. However, empty stands and lack of buzz was quite evident in the Group C opener. The seats inside the stadium were partially filled with most of the stands being empty and isolated. Reacting to the lack of buzz in the Caribbean nation, fans on social media labelled it as sad and disappointing.
Here’s how social media reacted:
Empty stands in Guyana.
Morning match with high ticketing prices have resulted in less crowds. pic.twitter.com/BbxegLme0m
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 2, 2024
The Empty stands at Guyana.
– This is sad to see Empty stadium for the Home team West Indies game in T20 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/MN9ot2TxJ7
— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) June 2, 2024
These are empty stands in the West Indies and the home team is playing, and then people say everything is arranged as per Indian audience. pic.twitter.com/DDKadQPYj4
— Div(@div_yumm) June 2, 2024
The Empty stands at Guyana.
– This is sad to see Empty stadium for the Home team West Indies game in T20 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/fPsw63lGmB
— CRICKET FAN (@Rishi174911) June 2, 2024
Guyana empty stands.
A morning match with expensive tickets has drawn fewer spectators. pic.twitter.com/pjO7a0EVJs
— GS SPORTS (@Gssports25) June 2, 2024
There was also a turnout in the opening game between USA and Canada in Dallas. There are still tickets available for the highly expected India-Pakistan game on June 9 in New York, particularly for the Diamond Club, Corner Clubs, and Premium Club Lounge (North) sections.
One of the biggest reasons for this lack of buzz has been the pricing of the tickets.
“I don’t think there is enough buzz for the World Cup here as compared to India, because it hasn’t been marketed as much. I feel they could have done a lot more in terms of build-up. But I am hoping that as the tournament progresses, it will gain more interest. When you travel through areas or via airports, there’s not much buzz or hoardings.” said Prasanna Balakrishnan.
“When you go through an airport in a country hosting a major event like a World Cup, you get to see hoardings or other signs there for it. But I have seen from people travelling for the tournament through their X (formerly Twitter) posts that there hasn’t been much on this front,” he said. “Tournament promotions in the USA have been here and there. It has been decent, but not as much because other than the Asian population over here and in other places, I am not sure if it has reached much.”
“Time will tell about it as there are a few good games in Dallas, New York, and Florida, including matches of USA, Canada, and Nepal as well, and how they are received,” adds Prasanna, who will be present in the stadium to see all of India’s league matches in New York and Florida.
What has also been astonishing is a release from USA Cricket earlier this week saying fans can now secure tickets for the co-hosts’ three home matches (barring the one against India) at a remarkable 25% discount. The move hints at a lack of buzz for the tournament leading to empty seats in stadiums for the matches.
“When the first batch of ticket sales opened, they didn’t allow us to choose seats. Like, they allowed us to choose certain categories like standard, premium, VIP, etc. Only after that, they opened us few seats. We thought they were sold out but were not so.”
(With IANS Inputs)
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