The anticipation for cricket’s era-defining foray into the world’s biggest sports market has reached feverish levels, with additional tickets to be released for June’s T20 World Cup held in the U.S. and Caribbean.
But there are no more tickets available for the India and Pakistan blockbuster on June 9 in New York. The match between the nuclear-armed foes lived up to the hype as the hottest ticket of the tournament after being oversubscribed more than 200 times the allocation, according to the International Cricket Council.
Only four out of the 55 matches don’t have public tickets available with the others being the tournament opener between U.S. and Canada – cricket’s oldest rivalry -in Dallas, India and Canada on June 15 in Lauderhill, Florida, and the final in Barbados.
For the matches with tickets still up for grabs, prices start at $6 for games in the Caribbean and $35 in the U.S. Demand will be expectedly fierce for the new tickets released for matches involving India, who are unsurprisingly based in the U.S. during the group stage.
India, who have not won a major title in over a decade, play Ireland on June 5 and host U.S. on June 12 and there will be a purchasing frenzy for those eager to watch cricket’s powerhouse on the glitzy stage of New York.
Construction is well underway of the modular 34,000-seat Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Eisenhower Park, 30 miles east of Manhattan.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer additional tickets for sale to the public who are clearly hungry for them, and also happy to be in position to open our hospitality offerings,” T20 World Cup chief executive Brett Jones said.
“There are currently options for everyone, at all USA venues, but that is not likely to last long, so we encourage interested fans to act quickly.”
But those hoping for opportunities to open up for the incredibly hyped India and Pakistan match were left disappointed. The next chapter in cricket’s most heated rivalry might just become the biggest match in the history of the British bat and ball game, which boasts the grandiose tag of being the second most watched sport in the world.
Given the location in arguably the world’s most famous city, as cricket finally realizes its long-held dream of tackling the coveted America market, all eyeballs will be on India-Pakistan which is always the headliner of ICC tournaments. A television audience of 200-400 million have watched previous matches between the bitter neighbors, who rarely play against each other due to the political tension in that volatile part of the world.
Tickets will also be available for Netherlands-Nepal (June 4), U.S.-Pakistan (June 6) and Sri Lanka-Bangladesh (June 7) in Dallas, so too Pakistan-Ireland on June 16 in Lauderhill.
Bringing a cricket World Cup to the U.S. is hoped to stir interest over cricket in a country where it is irrelevant among locals. It is hoped to build on the momentum from Major League Cricket, which surpassed financial expectations in its debut season last year as I first reported.
The professional tournament is enticing some of the world’s best players through the deep pockets of Silicon Valley businessmen.
Meanwhile, the ICC announced after its quarterly board meetings that the T20 World Cup will have reserve days scheduled for the semi-finals and final. In the group stage and Super Eight phase, a minimum of five overs have to be bowled in the innings to constitute a game, while 10 overs will need to be bowled for knockout matches.
