Ticket Price of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Seems High

The upcoming World Cup Cricekt 2007 will be started from the next month. The analysis and rumor over the tournament is now roaming around the cricket world. Many think that West Indies and Australia both are favorites to win the cup. However, it is a bad news for the authority that the ticket selling has could not live up to the expectation. This reason behind such down selling is claimed to be number of things such as visa complicacy and high price. Some analyst said that ticket price is beyond the ability of general fans.

Jamaica Gleaner reported:

The prices, which are being offered by one ticketing company, illustrate the beyond-the-ordinariness of this event. For the opening ceremony it will cost a mere €125, which coverts to J$10,725 at today's exchange rate.

The cheapest tickets remaining are those for the matches between Scotland and the Netherlands, which will be played in St, Kitts/Nevis and New Zealand and Canada, which will be played in St. Lucia. Tickets for both these matches, to be played on March 22, will fetch a mere J$5,480. The cheapest ticket being offered by this company for the West Indies vs Pakistan match on March 13 is J$16,302.

Those who are more able enter the grandstand will do so for a mere J$21,450. Happily, the asking price for the WI vs Zimbabwe on March 19 amounts to only J$8,075. However, unless the ordinary cricket lover takes out a mortgage, he or she will have to settle for watching the final match on TV. The prices being asked to enter Kensington Oval on April 28 range from J$75,668, that is, seventy-five thousand and mash at the lower end, to J$100,815; that is over one hundred thousand for the grandstand!

These prices seemed too unbelievable to be real, so I decided to check the ICC website and registered, as if I was going to buy a ticket. I tried to get a ticket for the Castries and Anse La Raye Stands for the semi-final on Aril 25. Most were sold out, but I could get one for US$130. The cheapest tickets being sold for that same match by the ticketing company I have been looking at was US$190. So, although I could get the ticket for US$60 cheaper directly from the ICC, I felt that at US$130 the price was still beyond the ordinary cricket lover.

Having gasped at the prices for a while, I concluded that it was better to watch the matches on TV anyway. Why would someone want travel to Barbados to brave the crowds for J$100,000 when all the action can be seen on TV?

I also think that the price is high for the general fans who have a limited income. So, the authorities should have been lenient in pricing the tickets rather they could more focus on the corporate and advertisement income.