The 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup held in India between 5 October and 19 November witnessed unprecedented success with record-breaking attendance and viewership. Despite this achievement, the event left fans disappointed due to a disorganized ticketing process and high prices. The contrast between the event’s popularity and the challenges faced by fans highlights the importance of addressing logistical issues to ensure an inclusive and positive experience for cricket enthusiasts, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

*GlobalData’s latest report, “ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 Post Event Analysis,” reveals that this year’s tournament was the most attended ICC event ever; 1.25 million spectators passed through the turnstiles of the 6-and-a-half-week competition. Additionally, a record peak viewership of nearly 59 million tuned in to Disney+ Hotstar to the final between India and Australia on 19 November.

Olivia Snooks, Associate Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “This year’s Cricket World Cup was under much pressure regarding the future of 50-over cricket. However, India showcased their love for cricket for the world to see. The tournament got off to a slow start, in terms of excitement and crowds, however as the tournament progressed, the excitement gained momentum and was a World Cup for the record books.”

This year’s World Cup saw an estimated annual sponsorship value of $93,475,000, including deals from Emirates Airline and Oppo. Most deals covered numerous ICC events across many years, however six out of the 27 deals were solely for this year’s tournament. As the host nation and the globe’s most ardent cricket-loving country, India, it came as no shock that brands were keen to associate themselves with this year’s tournament.

Snooks continues: “It was encouraging to see the large sponsorship portfolio for this year’s World Cup. There were questions prior to the World Cup regarding whether this year’s edition would attract any interest. However, the continued support from brands helped to boost the tournaments economic revenue, on top of the ICC’s long-term partners.”

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 was a highly anticipated event, especially for fans in India; their dream was to attend a home World Cup match. However, for some, these dreams were not able to be fulfilled due to delays in announcing the fixture schedule and a chaotic ticket system. This left many fans disappointed as the late fixture schedule led to inflated accommodation prices, and on top of expensive ticket prices, for many, attending the matches was not feasible.

Snooks concludes: “The chaotic and disorganized ticketing and schedule process did unfortunately leave many fans with no choice but to not attend. For fans in India, there does not get a much bigger sporting event than a home cricket World Cup and it is regrettable that this experience was majorly hindered for some. Nevertheless, the World Cup was still a huge success and has kept 50-over cricket alive.”