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England National Cricket Team opener Ben Duckett on Thursday displayed his worry over the low attendance in the ongoing The Hundred. The Southpaw was surprised by the low turnout in the crowd at the very start of the season and questioned the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for the same. In reply to that on Friday, the former Multan Sultans owner has shared his insights.
Former Multan Sultans owner Ali Tareen has replied to Ben Duckett's comments on the low attendance in the Hundred. He believes that there are too many franchise leagues in the world that are running, and there has been player rotation every few months; thus, supporting one team or player is difficult, and the decline is inevitable.
"Building a fan base is difficult"- Ali Tareen replies to Ben Duckett's low attendance comment
While tweeting on his X (formerly Twitter), Ali Tareen mentioned the difficulty of supporting one franchise, and that makes it hard to create loyal fan bases, while neutral audiences struggle to find a reason to stay invested in the tournament or the team. As the novelty is gone, falling interest in the crowd support is certain.
“Too many leagues. Same player pool rotating between teams every few months. It makes building a fan base difficult and gives neutrals nothing to latch onto. Novelty has worn off. Declining interest is inevitable.”
Too many leagues. Same player pool rotating between teams every few months.
— Ali Khan Tareen (@aliktareen) July 30, 2026
It makes building a fan base difficult and gives neutrals nothing to latch onto. Novelty has worn off. Declining interest is inevitable. https://t.co/GTYlIC51Jz
Why is The Hundred not having good fan turn-outs?
The sudden downfall in the whole crowd, with a few thousand down as of this stage last year, and the Hundred is only in the one-third stage of the competition. Though on weekdays it is difficult for the fans to turn up for the afternoon games.
The ECB is also aware that it will have lower ticket sales than the previous edition. The Hundred managing director Vikram Banerjee said that, with new franchise owners, it is a transition period with the ownership control having moved from the County sides to some IPL-owned franchise owners.
So, during the transition, it had major changes in operations, which is "unprecedented" for any major sporting league in the world.
Ben Duckett shocked with low attendance in The Hundred
Ben Duckett stated while speaking with Cricinfo that every team has quality cricketers and the game has also been good, as he would have been desperate to watch such cricketers playing. This comes as a shocker, as he does not blame the fans for the low turnout in the stadiums.
Right after any big series against Australia or India, the crowds have turned up in large numbers to support their favourite franchise. But this season it has not been like that. The total attendance in 2023 and 2025 was around 580,000, compared to 500,000 in 2022 and 540,000 in 2024. This year it is expected to be much lower than last year.
However, on Sunday for the Trent Rockets, the franchise Ben Duckett represents in the Hundred had a good turnout of 11,699, and the Rockets won the thriller game against London Spirit. Ben Duckett is having a good time as he is currently the leading run-getter in the tournament.
