OPINION: Ticket prices for SA, England ODI series make no sense

Despite a lack of faith in the turnstiles that monitor the number of spectators coming into the games, the SA20 has been a spectacular success in terms of crowd attendances, with the public flocking to the matches at every venue to show that there is still plenty of passion for cricket.

The official crowd figures – as recorded by the turnstiles – have generally been way less than the capacity of the stadiums, and officials have expressed doubts about the veracity of those numbers.

Just visually, the grounds have appeared to be chock-a-block with enthusiastic spectators, with a few matches sold out.

Ticket prices

A major reason for this support is the reasonable price of tickets, costing as little as R40, and even for the final, there are seats available for just R60.

What this has done for the game is immense. It is pulling fans back into the stadiums en masse, and now it is up to Cricket South Africa to retain those customers who have shown they love cricket, they just need it packaged better.

Suddenly there is excitement and momentum for the game. But sadly CSA seem to have missed this wave, judging by their marketing and ticket prices for the ODI series between the Proteas and world champions England starting on Friday.

The three-match series is being played in Bloemfontein and Kimberley, two regions that should be crying out for top-class cricket given that the SA20 jamboree has skipped them.

Stars of the T20 league like Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen and Anrich Nortje will all be in action.

And it is a crucial series for the Proteas with automatic qualification for the World Cup at stake, so they have plenty to play for.

Bloemfontein and Kimberley

But there has been precious little advertising the games. The most marketing the series has received has been negative, with the ridiculous ticket prices being criticised on social media. They do say there is no such thing as bad publicity, but CSA seem to be taking that notion a bit too far.

For Friday’s match in Bloemfontein, the cheapest tickets are R150 for children and R250 for adults. Unsurprisingly, not many tickets have apparently been sold.

Never mind similar ticket prices for the Pink Day ODI in April at the Wanderers, and the opposition are the Netherlands. They beat the Proteas in the T20 World Cup, but they are hardly big drawcards.