Indian Premier League organisers moved this season’s IPL final from Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium to Narendra Modi Stadium after the Karnataka State Cricket Association requested more than 10,000 additional tickets.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru won last season’s title, which placed Chinnaswamy Stadium in line to host the final under IPL convention. The ground holds around 35,000 spectators. According to Indian news agency PTI, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) already held rights to 15 per cent of the stadium capacity as complimentary tickets.
However, KSCA reportedly sought another 10,057 tickets beyond that allocation. A Board of Control for Cricket in India source told PTI that nearly 900 passes would go to Karnataka MLAs and MLCs, with each receiving three complimentary passes.
The report also said the state government required hundreds of additional tickets for committees, hospitality and special guests. BCCI officials feared the number of tickets left for public sale would fall to around 20,000, which they considered too low for an IPL final.
A PTI source said KSCA also planned separate allocations for cricket clubs, members’ families and life members. That included 3,007 tickets for cricket-playing clubs in the P-3 stand and another 3,500 tickets across various stands for life members.
The association also intended to purchase extra seats in the M-4 stand at an average price of 2,000 rupees per ticket.
IPL chairman Arun Dhumal said stadium capacity played a major role in the decision.
“Chinnaswamy Stadium’s capacity is not very high. Even during league matches, only a limited number of tickets were available there,” Dhumal said.
“Fans travel from around the world for the IPL final, so we needed to ensure a bigger ticket allocation for supporters.”
