Dubai: The UAE leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) recorded a hugely impressive 82 per cent of paid tickets in the full houses witnessed over 20 games in April, a substantial increase from the 56 per cent witnessed during IPL II in South Africa in 2009.
These were the only two occasions when the league had to be moved out of India as it clashed with the general elections.
Releasing the figures at the IPL governing council meeting in Mumbai on Saturday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials said the success of the UAE leg has given the ongoing edition the right boost after the rash of controversies in 2013.
“The initial success has given us a lot of confidence for the India leg. We firmly believe that the steps taken to match and set new standards of fan involvement in the IPL have been enormously successful,” Sanjay Patel, the BCCI secretary, said.
The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) management, meanwhile, feels that handling a tournament of this magnitude was an acid test for them which raised their confidence levels of taking on more such events in future.
Speaking to Gulf News, David East, CEO of ECB admitted the crowd response — especially for the day games — had taken them by surprise. “We saw 20 sell-out games over 16 days and organising it certainly was a huge task,” he said.
“It was a massive challenge to put it all together in such a short span of time. We got massive support from the BCCI, their event managers IMG and the various government agencies to see it through,” he said.
Asked how they reacted on a war footing after the UAE was confirmed as an offshore venue only on March 19, East had a special note of thanks for Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth & Community Development and chairman of the ECB.
“In one of the very first meetings, Shaikh Nahyan impressed upon all the government departments like customs, immigration and police as to how important this event was for us.”
Meanwhile, the official IPL website has registered a rise of 10 million visits in comparison to 2013 in the first 10 days of the tournament while the following has also increased substantially on the social media websites, according to BCCI figures.
IPL Chairman Ranjib Biswal said: “As pleased we are of the brilliant response in the UAE, our next aim is to make the IPL more appealing to the fans back home.
“I wish for the cricket fans in India to get involved in the game by flocking the stadia, watching the tournament on the TV and availing of all the rich information and content we have to offer through our digital platforms.”
