Asia Cup 2023: Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Reduces Ticket Prices Up To 95 Percent: Reports

In a bid to fill empty stadiums, the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) has reduced match ticket prices by up to 95 percent in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023, as per AFP.

The India-Pakistan match on Sunday was called off due to rain. This is the second time that an Indo-Pakistan match in this Asia Cup was interrupted due to rain. Previously the India-Pakistan match was also interrupted by rain.

The ACC had earlier decided to shift the Super 4 matches to Hambantota from Colombo but then decided to make a U-turn on their decision despite knowing the rain threat as per trusted weather channels. There is a forecast of rain in Colombo in all the remaining games starting with this epic clash between India and Pakistan. With the match being called off, the ACC’s decision is now being hugely criticized.

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Match Ticket Prices Reduced From 10000 To 500 By Sri Lanka Cricket

Meanwhile, ticket prices for ODI games in Sri Lanka generally in recent times have been around 250 rupees ($0.78). The board saw an opportunity to earn some revenue with the Island nation being the joint hosts for the tournament along with Pakistan. Colombo was chosen as the venue for the Super 4s including the final on September 17.

The price of match tickets was hiked to 10,000 rupees for the tournament. However, so far rain has played spoilsport in the tournament. Only 7000 spectators came to watch the Super 4 match in Colombo between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The venue which hosts a crowd capacity of 35000 had a majority of the stadium empty.

Now to get back fans to the stadium, the prices of the match tickets have been reduced up to 95 percent. This includes the match tickets for the India-Pakistan match which is available for as low as 500 rupees.

The sudden hike in the match tickets had infuriated the fans. Recently the country experienced some crunch time due to food, fuel, and medicine shortages last year after a foreign exchange turmoil that sparked widespread protests culminating in the ouster of its president.

“Pakistan have kept the ticket pricing too high and that has kept fans away from the stadiums,” a local Sri Lankan official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“Ticket costs… are way beyond the reach of a common man. This is bizarre. We tried to reason with the PCB but they had their reasons as they have lost out on money, maybe” he added.

PCB officials have resented from commenting on the same. Meanwhile, the India-Pakistan game has now moved onto the reserve day (September 11) after it was called off on Sunday.

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