Last Updated on 4 months by Charbel Coorey

India-Pakistan clash sees near full-capacity crowd despite rainy conditions in New York.

When an India World Cup game is nowhere near full capacity, questions are asked no matter where the match is played. India’s match against Ireland, contested on another very difficult New York surface, was played in front of a sea of empty seats.

A few days later, a sea of blue dominated the telecast as India took on Pakistan at the same venue. When you consider the circumstances facing fans, the near-capacity crowd at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium is particularly impressive.

4 key reasons why the crowd for the India-Pakistan match is impressive

Nachiket Sant, co-host of The CricBlog Podcast, is currently in the USA and attended the India-Ireland game. He spoke of a few key factors as to why the crowd was on the low side for that match.

1. Timing of the matches not suited to the local audience

One has to wonder how much the International Cricket Council (ICC) is actually selling the game in the USA by playing matches on weekday mornings. Yes, the desire to cater to the Indian timezone is understandable, but then why bother hosting a World Cup there?

In fact, the USA’s upset win over Pakistan in Dallas was the catalyst that got Americans talking about cricket.

Getting to and from the games has proven to be difficult for fans, especially on weekdays. Nachiket’s journey from New Jersey to the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York is quite the story.

“I left New Jersey at 7:15am and the game was in Long Island [to begin at 10:30am local time]. A 55-minute trip turned into an hour-and-45 minutes to two hours, including a 10-minute stop for a toilet break.

“We got stuck in peak New York traffic. I wouldn’t even describe it as Sydney traffic. It was like Mumbai traffic,” Nachiket said.

On a weekday, the trip back home for Nachiket was reflective of timings not suiting the locals. The saving grace for fans attending the India-Pakistan game is the weekend timing, but the attendance is still fantastic especially with the rainy weather conditions.

“On the way back, we ensured some of the worst traffic I have ever seen. It took an hour and 15 minutes to travel 0.2 miles (or 320 metres). We left the stadium at about 2:10 and didn’t get home till 5:30pm.

“The traffic was from the parking lot to our home where we are staying. It was the woest time to hold a game as when you go to the ground, people were going to work. On the way back, people were travelling back home.”

2. Ridiculous ticket prices

The premium seats at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium have been empty for all games except the India-Pakistan clash.

“For the premium seats, you were looking at prices in the range of $1,000 to $1,500,” said Nachiket. “It was a clear ploy to try and take advantage of India fans and their love for the game.

“The reason why the areas near the sightscreen were empty for the India-Ireland game is that people would have spent around $1,500 to $1,700 on the India-Pakistan game, meaning there were little funds available.”

3. Challenge getting to the New York stadium

Nachiket eventually arrived to the stadium for India vs Ireland at about 9:30, but the journey didn’t end there. He reached a parking lot which was about 20 minutes away from the stadium itself. There was the option of either walking or waiting 15 minutes for a Shuttle Bus as many fans were using the services.

“We reached a parking lot with about 800-1,000 spots off an actual stadium where they play a few sports at college level, which is about 20 minutes away from the stadium” Nachiket said. “The Shuttle Buses were available, but there was a 15-minute wait. The stadium is in the middle of nowhere. They’ve done well to put this stadium together so quickly, but it’s like an abandoned park with scaffolding.

“The walk was along the highway, with drivers looking at us wondering where all these people in blue were heading. We eventually sat in our seats at 9:55am, just a few minutes before the toss. The stadium was 40% full. The north and sound end stands were completely empty. You can see it in the highlights. That was for the entire game.”

Below is a quick video of the walk provided by Nachiket.

Nachiket also provided insight into the stadium itself. He said it’s a fine effort to get such a ground ready in a short amount of time, but there can be improvements.

“The actual stadium and stands are well built, but there is no shade. Even for the premium seats. Weather wasn’t too hot but got warmer as the sun came out. Lucky it wasn’t hotter. Not ideal at a cricket ground to not have any shade,” he said.

“There were two screens which were pretty small. The first screen was behind the east stand, and the other behind the west. Replays were only on the screen behind us, so we had to keep turning. The other screen only had the score.

“At the 50-over WC in India, the water jugs were out of water. In New York, there was no free water. You had to buy water.

“Toilets were clean but merch was poor. There were no playing jerseys, just fan T-Shirts and the kind. Standard green colour for South Africa in a pop-up shop set up by the ICC.”

4. Not enough marketing and promotion in the USA

According to Nachiket, there is very little marketing or promotion of the World Cup anywhere in New York.

“If it’s organised better, the USA can be a good location for a World Cup,” he said. “But there is no promotion at all. Nothing in Times Square except for a small banner saying, “cricket is here”. It hasn’t been done properly.”

“The official ICC Instagram page has a man in budgy smugglers with a guitar singing to people, saying ‘cricket is here’. There is no proper campaign or creativity. It’s quite poor.”

Broken Cricket Dreams Cricket Blog, one of the top cricket blogs in the USA, echoed those sentiments.

“There has been absolutely no marketing here Maybe in NY and Dallas where games are hosted, but other than that – most general public probably don’t even know a WC is going on or that a cricket stadium is built, etc.”

Then, there has been the issue of the New York pitch. The surfaces have not made for riveting viewing, with contests heavily in favour of the bowlers. Up until the India-Pakistan match, Canada’s 137/7 against Ireland was easily the biggest score.

Given the challenges, the crowd for the India-Pakistan game is an excellent result and testament to the fans’ love for the game. Here’s hoping the ICC are aware of these factors and can ensure a better experience for both new and seasoned cricket fans in the USA.