The news of the India-Pakistan match getting back on track has been followed by a collective sigh of relief from all the stakeholders who have had sleepless nights wondering if the blockbuster clash of the ICC T20 World Cup would happen or not.As soon as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a U-turn on its stand of not playing against India on February 15 in Colombo, the tickets for the match were sold out in no-time, while hotel and flight prices recorded a spike.While the punters had a sigh of relief, the broadcasters rejoiced expecting to generate $60 million in TV ads alone. With the late negotiations, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has prevented the loss of millions of dollars, including that to the micro business near the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.After days of uncertainty, the Pakistan government gave approval to its team to play against India on Monday evening. While the sale of tickets for this particular match was not opened during the discussion phase between the ICC and PCB, the website witnessed a spike of visitors since Monday evening. The website, which was earlier showing ‘coming soon’ for the sale of tickets, now displays ‘event closed’ with booking no longer available.The demand for this particular match is such that various websites claim to have got hold of the tickets, and are asking for sky-touching prices. The secondary ticket marketplace is offering two tickets of this match for Rs 90,000, which goes up to Rs 3,65,000 for two hospitality tickets. The lower category tickets are being offered in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000.A direct one-way flight from Delhi to Colombo is costing between Rs 23,000 and 35,000, while for the match day (February 15), the ticket for the same is ranging between Rs 48,000 and Rs 1,07, 500. The cheapest flight is listed for Rs 15,000 with a 14-hour travel offer.The listing of hotels near the stadium is no different, with a decent hotel located around 5km from the stadium offering a room for a single person for Rs 7,000, while the price goes beyond imagination for a five-star property.The match is also important in terms of filling the broadcasters’ coffers. The TV ads for this match have been reportedly sold for $50,000 for a prime 10-second slot, and somewhere between $25,000 and $35,000 for the same length in a normal slot.Various reports value the India-Pakistan T20 World Cup game at $500 million, which includes broadcast rights, advertising, sponsorship, ticketing, legal betting, and illegal betting conducted under the radar. The fixture is expected to be watched by around 325 million people, while the recent NFL’s Super Bowl is reported to have a record viewership of 127.7 million.
