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ICC 2023 Men's ODI World Cup
source: Inside Sport

The Cricket World Cup 2023 was anticipated by fans worldwide as a grand celebration of the sport, as it should be. After all, this world event happens after every four years with top teams pitching up against one another providing thrill and excitement, making it the most anticipated world cricket tournament amongst the fans.

However, beneath the thrilling matches and unforgettable moments, a dark cloud loomed – the ticketing scam that left fans disappointed and frustrated.

From the moment, India was announced as a Host to Cricket World Cup 2023, fans eagerly awaited the ticket release, hoping to secure their seats at the stadiums. But what unfolded was a chaotic and unfair ticketing system that had loyal supporters feeling like they’d been deceived.

To start with, the ridiculously delayed release of the schedule just 100 days prior to the start of the tournament, to nine matches being rescheduled over a month later (including the marquee India-Pakistan clash), to the eventual sale of tickets starting August 25, just over a month before the start of a World Cup, it’s all been rather shambolic.

For context, the schedule for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales, which began on May 30, 2019, was released on April 26, 2018—over a year before the tournament started. The ticketing process began on May 1, 2018. That’s how it should be for a World Cup, so that fans from across the world have ample time to plan their trip.

But for India 2023, the scheduling delay was just the first hurdle faced by fans. The second one arrived after the sale of tickets began on August 25, If anything, it was a bigger farce.

To start with, the pre-sale promised exclusive access to tickets for those Fans who books it through the ‘Book My Show’ App, the official ticketing platform of the 2023 World Cup. Many, excitedly signed up, believing they would get the first pick of the best seats. However, when the pre-sale finally began, many found that despite getting to the top of the queue, many users were unable to book the tickets because others were booking them faster, the tickets were either exorbitantly priced or sold out in seconds, leaving a majority of fans empty-handed.

Scalpers took full advantage of the confusion, snatching up tickets during the initial sale and reselling them at exorbitant prices. This left many genuine fans priced out of attending the tournament, as they couldn’t afford to pay several times the ticket’s face value.

The official ticketing website crashed repeatedly due to the massive demand, leaving fans frustrated and unable to complete their purchases. Some fans even reported being charged for tickets that they never received due to these glitches. Some of it was for technical glitches, which is perhaps understandable considering there are a potential 759 million Indians with internet access who could have tried buying tickets.

The number of tickets up for sale also seemed arbitrary and inconsistent. When one digs deep, it comes to notice that only 8,000 tickets were available for the India-Pakistan game at the Narender Modi Stadium, which has a capacity of over 1,30,000. Less than 10,000 tickets were made available to be bought for each for the India-Australia, India-Afghanistan, and India-Bangladesh games when the seating capacity of the stadiums, these matches were to be played in were much higher. 

Fans were demanding more transparency regarding the ticket allocation process and the total number of tickets available. This lack of information fueled speculation and mistrust, further alienating fans.

While the World Cup is still going on, the ticketing scam at CWC 2023 marred what should have been and could have been a memorable cricketing event when it comes to enjoyable fan experience. The organizers failed to prioritize the fans who make the sport what it is. Instead, they allowed scalpers and technical glitches to dominate the narrative, leaving many fans disillusioned and upset.

It’s a stark reminder that ticketing processes for major events must be fair, transparent, and prioritised to serve the fans who love the sport.

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