Disgruntled fans cry foul over ticketing process

Devansh Patel convinced three friends to take what they were calling the trip of a lifetime by promising that if they attended at least five matches of the ICC World Cup 2023, he would drive them to every vineyard in Nashik and Akluj for the following two weeks.

Patel, a software engineer by profession, is the only cricket fan in the group. To such an extent that the 29-year-old takes pride in the fact that he has never missed a single over or even a ball of the matches that involve his favourite teams, namely India and Australia. However, grape stomping or vineyard tours come above everything else for his friends, Dhruvan, Akaash, and Sanjay, as the trio decided to break their cricket embargo for just this one occasion. ‘For the love of wine', Dhruvan insisted.

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On August 3, Patel booked four tickets to watch India face Pakistan in the tournament's group stage on October 15 in Motera and entrusted Sanjay with splitting travel and accommodation costs evenly among themselves. It seemed like a perfect plan until the ICC organisers put their tolerance to a severe test by releasing a revised schedule for the World Cup.

"We, especially Devansh, we're heartbroken. Travel, hotel bookings - everything was pre-planned. They should have informed in advance if something like this was to happen. I must tell you, getting hold of the match tickets was no easy feat either. There has been a lot of mismanagement during the entire ticketing process," Sanjay told Mid-Day.

A dismayed Devansh, fuelled by his love of cricket, later made a fresh travel booking for himself for October 14 (revised India vs Pakistan fixture), but disappointment spiralled through him again as he failed to get hold of his match tickets even after completing payment.

"I was redirected to the seat selection tab, followed by the payment page. An error occurred and I was given a long waiting time of six hours. It was insane. I was happy to have cleared the waiting time but was redirected to seat selection once again even after completing the payment. There were only five seats available at that time, all four of us tried our best, but no one got through. This continued for the next few hours, and finally, the ‘tickets sold out' pop-up appeared out of nowhere. My money was deducted but I had no tickets," he explained.

Patel added that initial round-trip flight tickets cost him Rs. 30,000 per person, but prices soared after the fixtures were rescheduled, with one-way tickets costing Rs. 23,000 alone. "Don't even get me started on the hotel expenses," he said. When Mid-Day contacted several three-star hotels within walking distance of the Motera stadium, it became clear that the unprecedented changes to the fixture list made matters worse for fans after prices of hotel rooms soared by more than 10 times the usual cost.

After much deliberation, Patel and his friends decided to go no further than the Wankhede. But all seats were already sold out by then. It is then that one of Akaash's friends suggested they purchase tickets through third-party vendors, who resell tickets at inflated prices.

Despite repeated warnings by the cricket's governing body regarding the validity of tickets purchased through third-party vendors, touts are still quoting extortionate sums for right of entry to stadiums. However, a major problem faced by last-minute ticket buyers like Devansh is that they are mostly unaware of whether their black market tickets are valid until they scan them at the entrance.

While unofficial reselling of tickets is not illegal, they contradict the World Cup terms and conditions, and the ICC has repeatedly cancelled tickets that were up for sale on the resale websites.

In fact, those attempting to sell for a profit in this manner are contacted by the ICC and let off with a formal warning, with their tickets subsequently being cancelled if they are not delisted, but that has not stopped thousands of ticket-holders coolly going about their business.

The ICC, under such circumstances, is powerless to prevent the black market from thriving and making money off fans' desire to be part of something that they love. "I've already sunk so much money into going so far, I paid for my travel and lodging. I think I am just too far in. That is the only option for me right now," Patel said.

A Mumbai-based ticket scalper, who declined to be named, told Mid-Day that he had earned enough money in a month to pay for his trip to the final, plus a bonus. While it is for cricket loyalists like Devansh who help these hawkers thrive, others questioned the authenticity of BookMyShow, the official ticketing partner for the World Cup.

"We must get a clear picture of how many seats were actually put up on sale (on BookMyShow) and how many were sold. It is possible they are themselves selling these tickets on the resale sites. Everything must be done officially," demanded Sagar Jaiswal, a 34-year-old telesales executive from Greater Noida.

Jaiswal later stumbled upon Viagogo, a multinational ticket resale brand, where, he revealed, the most expensive ticket for India vs Pakistan was priced in millions. "This is ridiculous. Everyone is after profit, and in the end, the genuine fans are affected. These big tournaments work like a magnet for these touts and scammers and how easily people even give in!" he added.