This T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies seems to be a disastrous one, at least for now. It has been marred by rains, poor logistics across teams, bad scheduling of matches, and just bad crowd turnout. What was the ICC even thinking during the planning stages of this tournament, since it looks like a complete mess for now.
Weather Has Marred Interest in T20 World Cup 2024
The England vs Scotland match in Barbados on Tuesday was washed out due to rain, without a ball being bowled. Other matches at different venues too have been rain-affected. Likewise with the warm-up matches. The practice match between USA and Bangladesh was washed out due to rain in Dallas, on May 28. So of course the fans are not really interested in watching these matches.
Odd Timings to Cater to Indian Audiences
India is the biggest market for cricket, and ICC has made sure that India gets all the prime time matches for the T20 World Cup. So all of India matches will be played at 8 PM IST. That would mean that while the Indians will follow the match, the others won’t be able to. For example, someone in Sydney won’t be able to enjoy the IND vs IRE match on Thursday, since it is at 12.30 AM for them. Similarly, New Zealanders wouldn’t want to wake up at 2.30 AM to watch the match.
That’s not it. Australia play Oman on Thursday too. The match will begin at 12.30 AM IST, that means it would be 5.30 AM in Syndey. So there wouldn’t be as much interest in the match by the Aussies. Surprisingly, it’s not favorable timings for the hosts too. USA play Pakistan at 9 PM IST in Dallas on 6th June, that means 10.30 AM local time, that too on a working day.
Poor Logistics Play a Part too
For starters, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Glenn Maxwell were stranded in different locations for over two days, due to delayed flights. They also lost their luggage, which was found later. Then the Sri Lankan team had a 12-hour flight delay at Florida, when they were supposed to reach New York for their match. That meant they did not have enough time for practice. Soon after they had to depart for Florida again. They were also staying 90 minutes away from the Nassau County stadium, where they played their match against South Africa.
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ICC Hoping for IND vs PAK Success
Now with these nightmarish problems, the only solace that the ICC has is, the IND vs PAK match on June 9 in New York. If that match is a hit, the tournament could be a hit too. In fact, there are signs that the clash could improve things in this T20 World Cup 2024. As per a report in Exchange4Media, advertisers have shown a keen interest in the match. More than 90% of the ad inventory is sold out, the report suggests.
It further says, the inventory for Connected TV and HD TV is almost done, while TV and mobile inventory stands at over 90%. Even thought Star and Disney+Hotstar have kept the same ad rates for all the matches, same as last time, but advertisers are willing to pay 25% more for IND vs PAK match. Another source added that the TV ad rate for the big clash is INR 50 lakh for 10 seconds only.
Tickets for India, Pakistan Not Sold Out
But it seems that this match might fail to get eyeballs too. With the ticket prices starting at 2.2 lakh, and going up to 8.3 lakh, the match isn’t sold out as yet. There are still tickets available, and it seems in plenty. So one only wonders, what can save this tournament?
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