DDCA members, clubs flag concerns over IPL tickets

With the Indian Premier League (IPL) season on, some members and affiliated clubs of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) have raised concerns over the limited availability of complimentary and concessional tickets for Delhi Capitals’ home matches.

While DDCA members, numbering around 4,000, receive one pass per match, the association’s affiliated clubs, which shockingly do not have voting rights, are permitted to purchase up to 10 tickets at market rates, in addition to one pass meant for club secretaries.

This has led to dissatisfaction among some members and representatives of the 105 affiliated clubs. The DDCA also does not provide passes separately to present or former India cricketers. If an international player is also happens to be a DDCA member, he receives one pass in that capacity, said former India all-rounder Madan Lal and Maninder Singh. However, former cricketers who are not members do not receive passes for IPL matches.

Seating concerns

“Each DDCA member and club secretary receive s one pass valued at Rs 3,500 while the DDCA league-playing clubs get 10 paid tickets of Rs.1,540 denomination, in addition to the one pass for club secretaries,” DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma told Patriot.

“It is the same rate as that for spectators — there are no concessions for the clubs. Around 10 years ago, clubs used to receive tickets at a subsidised rate,” said a club secretary.

Another club representative said they do not always receive their full ticket quota. “At times, despite depositing money in advance, we are informed that fewer tickets are available,” he said.

Some members said the seating allocated to them is not always among the preferred viewing areas at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, formerly known as the Feroze Shah Kotla.

A senior DDCA member said that members can raise their concerns only with the association, and not with the franchise, which is jointly owned by the GMR Group and JSW Group.

State body–franchisee agreement

Under the tripartite agreement between the BCCI, state associations, and IPL franchisees, the latter allocates 15% tickets of the stadium capacity to the state association, in addition to the 5% share for the BCCI. The Delhi stadium has a capacity of a little over 37,000.

“The franchisee shall be responsible for all ticketing and access control of the stadium on match days. The state association shall be provided free of charge by the franchisee with 15 per cent of each category of tickets or otherwise as mutually agreed in writing,” the agreement states.

“The state association tickets shall be marked ‘free’ or ‘complimentary’ and shall be used for the association’s commitments to members and other organisations. The state association may elect to receive 10 per cent (and not 15%) of each category of tickets for use only of its members, in which case any ticket requirements associated with permissions will be managed by the franchisee,” the document adds.

As per the agreement, the state associations also receive a fee from the BCCI and the franchise for the use of their stadiums during IPL matches.

Other associations

A senior member of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), associated with it since 1972, explained the arrangement between the association and its stakeholders vis-à-vis the IPL matches played at the 35,000-capacity M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

“KSCA has 4,000 stakeholders, of which 2,000 are voting members. Among these voting members, 1,650 are individuals, including 50 former Indian players and 350 clubs that participate in KSCA league tournaments. The remaining 2,000 members are non-voting individuals (1,850) and 150 clubs participating in the KSCA leagues. All the above are eligible to get tickets on a first-cum-first-served basis for all IPL matches,” the senior KSCA member told Patriot.

In Mumbai, the Mumbai Cricket Association provides two passes to former Test cricketers and 10 passes to its 329 affiliated clubs. Some of these passes are for seats in the prestigious MCA Pavilion at the Wankhede Stadium.