CSK Tickets IPL 2023: Whether MS Dhoni will retire or play another season is the hottest topic in the cricket circle currently. But nobody wants to take the chance. As Chennai Super Kings play their last official home game against Kolkata Knight Riders at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday, hundreds are queuing up for tickets from the night. But the surprise is, most of them aren’t even going to watch the CSK vs KKR game. The reason? They are mere proxies for passionate fans who can afford to watch. Follow Indian Premier League LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
As per an Indian Express report, for the lowest-priced Rs 1500 ticket, the long queue has homeless, daily workers, and students who are earning Rs 800 so that others can watch the game. They can purchase 2 tickets each and some of them are buying tickets to sell on the black market at a higher cost with markups going as high as 200-300%.
Most of these women are getting paid Rs 800 to stand in queue and pass on tickets to black market racketeers who sell Rs 1,500 tickets for 5000 and Rs 2,000 ticket for an excess of 6,500. pic.twitter.com/Xni0d8Tjqj
— Venkata Krishna B (@venkatatweets) May 12, 2023
Win-win to get CSK Tickets through proxies:
Srinivas Ganesan, one of the passionate fans, who work in an IT company in Chennai, is one of those who can afford it. For him, the preferred route was online. But tickets are sold out already and standing in the queue is not feasible. Hence, he paid Rs 500 to someone to stand in the queue.
“You can say it’s unethical and fueling black marketing, but that’s the only option I think I have to watch the match. I tried on PayTM Insider and on CSK websites but all are sold out. I have an off on Sunday and don’t want to miss out on the match. If I can get a ticket, paying 500 bucks extra, why not. The person I paid to is also earning something, it’s a win-win,” Ganesan told InsideSport.
There are also fans who are in the queue but their number is less than the rest. Many of those who are buying tickets for others don’t even know who are CSK playing on Sunday. But if there is a demand, there is a supply chain too.
“We are being offered Rs 800 to stand in the queue and buy tickets. We will hand them over, and those people in turn will sell them for Rs 5,000 each in the black market. This is the fourth match I’m standing in the queue for and for every six hours, I get Rs 800,” Indian Express quoted a teenager who was standing in the queue at 2:30 AM on Friday morning. The counter opens at 7 AM.
However, there is no gender bias here. A separate queue for women also had the same look. Daily wagers, corporation workers, cleaners and maids found a way to earn some extra.
Rampant Black marketing on Social Media:
Beyond the long queues and long waiting time, there is also a flourishing black market on social media. A customary search on Twitter, Google and Facebook would show up hundreds of posts selling tickets at exorbitant prices. Some of the tickets on Facebook marketplace are getting sold for over Rs 13000 (Original price 5,0000).
However, apart from a few arrests, police have done next to nothing to stop them. As for Chennai Super Kings, even though fans have been urging them to put the entire stock online, it has not been the case.
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