KINGSTON, Jamaica – Buoyed by a spectacular opening ceremony and the winning start by the West Indies team, ticket sales for the remaining match in the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 Group Stage featuring the West Indies and Ireland, have skyrocketed.
With the match some three days away on March 23, some 12,000 tickets have been sold and if sales continue on the current path, the match should be sold out. So far, the party stand has been sold out.
Stephen Price, Commercial Director at the ICC CWC West Indies 2007 Inc. told JIS News that ticket sales have been going extremely well, so much so that it has now surpassed expectations.
“Jamaica had the advantage of having had four great events over the past week and a half. We had one glorious opening ceremony, which was televised globally and was appreciated not only by Jamaica on a whole, but also the Caribbean,” he noted.
“Then, we had a great opening match between West Indies and Pakistan, which was followed by the exciting Zimbabwe versus Ireland match and then the upset of the tournament in terms of Ireland sending Pakistan packing,” Mr. Price said.
All the excitement, including upsets, he informed, have made the group looked even more competitive, so much so that, persons are coming out of the woodwork to see the remaining matches.
“The Ireland versus Zimbabwe match was a humdinger in terms of that tie that took place and what this has meant is that the group that Jamaica has gotten is an extremely competitive group, one in which you cannot overlook any game whatsoever,” Mr. Price said, adding that more than 14,000 tickets were sold for the West Indies versus Zimbabwe match.
In terms of the impact of Pakistan’s early departure from the tournament on Super Eight ticket sales, Mr. Price said that the jury was still out. “We do not know what effect it will have on the Super Eight games across the tournament and we hope that it does not necessarily affect it,” he said.
However, he pointed out that with the impending inclusion of Ireland in the next round, many of their fans, who comprise a strong contingent of 1,000 in Jamaica, will make the trip with their team. “We hope that it will bear fruit and also fans from North America as well as Ireland will come to the region to support their team,” he said.
