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PSL 2017 : Crowd Watch

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tanveer din

Tape Ball Regular
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Danny Morrison is just saying that there are only 567 people in attendance today so Bpl>Psl
 
People will increase as the sun sets. I'm sure we all know of Dubai's climate. To go in the day is not very easy. I'm sure I wouldn't go either no matter how much of a cricket fan I am.
 
Seems llike mainly the mufti crowd today - passholders, VIPs, friends of friends.
 
Saturday is holiday for public and most private companies. This crowd is very disappointing today considering it's still a holiday for most.
 
not surprised, PSL 1 had decent crowd because of the "inaugural" factor. Once that feeling goes away people stop caring unless the tournament is structured in a way necessary to grab people's attention.

Issue with PSL are multifold but the root issue is that Pakistan Super League, isn't being held in Pakistan.
 
Executioner said:
not surprised, PSL 1 had decent crowd because of the "inaugural" factor. Once that feeling goes away people stop caring unless the tournament is structured in a way necessary to grab people's attention.

Issue with PSL are multifold but the root issue is that Pakistan Super League, isn't being held in Pakistan.
Click to expand...

Its a gradual process. With PSL 2, they bring one match back to Pakistan. PSL 3, at least half of the tournament or some of the early group matches and PSL 3 or 4 is played entirely in Pakistan.
 
Executioner said:
not surprised, PSL 1 had decent crowd because of the "inaugural" factor. Once that feeling goes away people stop caring unless the tournament is structured in a way necessary to grab people's attention.

Issue with PSL are multifold but the root issue is that Pakistan Super League, isn't being held in Pakistan.
Click to expand...

In night matches it is decent atleast while on 1st day it is houseful
 
There would be complete different atmosphere in Pakistan. It's impossible to fill stadium for every game in Dubai for various reasons.

To save the PSL need to be shifted to Pakistan as soon as possible.

The fun will first start when Lahore plays it's home game in Lahore, Islamabad in Islamabad, Peshawar in Peshawar and so on. Then you can expect big crowds.
 
Even some sat in the crowd are freeloaders, sponsored by companies involved with the PSL.

I'd be interested to know how many people actually paid to get into the stadium today.
 
More attendance here in the Crowd Watch thread than in the actual stadium. PSL should give away free tickets and try to bring in more crowds. I doubt money made from ticket sales will make any actual impact in terms of revenue.
 
Dubai stadium is quite far away from main city. You need car to reach the stadium. Thats why lot of bachelors cannot reach the venue.

On the other side, Sharjah Stadium is in City. You will see the crowd.
 
Didn't Shahryar Khan say that most matches were sold out?

Or did he mean they were just sold out from a fixing perspective.
 
If it isn't in Pakistan, why even bother doing it in Dubai/UAE etc?

The pathetic attendances have been shocking for a while.
 
I think the pcb has done a self goal by its eagerness to be very strict against corruption and in doing so it has damaged this years psl prospects big time
 
there is no fun playing in empty stadium specially league cricket.

Even watching it on the tv is pain seeing those empty stands.
 
Income from crowds will be next to nothing for the organisers as the vast majority of people in the ground are freeloaders.
 
Saj said:
Income from crowds will be next to nothing for the organisers as the vast majority of people in the ground are freeloaders.
Click to expand...

'Freeloaders' are an issue but they are better than having a completely empty stadium at this stage.

Lack of crowds was to be expected but it is rather dissapointing how little the organisers have done to try and attract people. No outside the box thinking or initiatives to attract the masses.
 
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I have seen too many people making excuses about empty stadiums. Some say stadiums are far from city, some say hard for people to come to ground in day time, too many better things to do on a weekend than watch PSL etc etc. I remember IPL 2014, first 20 odd matches were on these same grounds in front of almost packed house. So all these excuses are non-sense. Let's admit it PSL is just another copycat league and it's already getting bad rep because of Fixing allegations. There is nothing new about this, and to bring crowds in at neutral venues you need a unique product.

PCB is already mismanaging the PSL:
1. Little to no marketing for locals of UAE. When BCCI moved IPL to UAE in 2014, they moved matches to UAE on short notice, but marketed IPL really well to locals.
2. What's the point of using drones to throw match ball to umpire?
3. They probably turned away some of USA audience by making them buy $10 pass for PSL. They should have taken the route of BBL, some matches were live on NBC (free channel). PSL timing would have been perfect, night (UAE) matches starting around 11 am EST compared to 4am EST for BBL.
4. They need to have some giveaways, like players meet and greet for first 50-100 people before match. This maybe not pack the stadiums, but it will make people feel part of the league.
5. Make Final a Super Bowl type event. Instead of 10 minute innings break make it 40 minute (only for final) and have a 20 minute concert.

PSL needs someone who can think outside the box. Do things that are not done by other leagues, and make people feel part of the league, rather than try to suck money out of them.
 
Psl can't do anything more to get more people in the grounds.. even if it's free it won't make too much difference I'm sure in UAE.. you have to remember there's not millions of Pakistanis living in Dubai of which thousands will want to drive miles away to watch a T20 game every day. 90% of the Pakistanis living in Dubai are not earning good morning and are lucky if they even get one day off a week. Unless this league is in Pakistan the crowds will be low.

Even if this league was in the UK crowds will be very low. Unless the local Non Pakistanis supporters came out to watch a game of cricket it be very low attendance. The cost of hiring the stadium etc would make psl a massive loss in the uk
 
phoenix363 said:
'Freeloaders' are an issue but they are better than having a completely empty stadium at this stage.

Lack of crowds was to be expected but it is rather dissapointing how little the organisers have done to try and attract people. No outside the box thinking or initiatives to attract the masses.
Click to expand...

Not if they want to make some money.

Seems like worse crowds than last year.
 
Saj said:
Not if they want to make some money.

Seems like worse crowds than last year.
Click to expand...

Understood, but its unlikely you will get large crowds in Dubai and make money through ticket sales. Hence why it is more important to use other initiatives to get the staidum full, even if they earn no additinal revenue. It will improve the atmosphere, the players, increase word of mouth and might even be more appealing to sponsors when they sounds thousands of people coming to every match, regardless of how many of them paid to be there.
 
Crowds will improve in Sharjah.

No one is going to make a journey to the middle of nowhere.

Very difficult getting to and from the stadium, plus most of them work 6 days a week.
 
Crowd attendance i hope is better in Sharjah becuase majority of Pakistanis live in Sharjah in UAE
 
Farz said:
I have seen too many people making excuses about empty stadiums. Some say stadiums are far from city, some say hard for people to come to ground in day time, too many better things to do on a weekend than watch PSL etc etc. I remember IPL 2014, first 20 odd matches were on these same grounds in front of almost packed house. So all these excuses are non-sense. Let's admit it PSL is just another copycat league and it's already getting bad rep because of Fixing allegations. There is nothing new about this, and to bring crowds in at neutral venues you need a unique product.

PCB is already mismanaging the PSL:
1. Little to no marketing for locals of UAE. When BCCI moved IPL to UAE in 2014, they moved matches to UAE on short notice, but marketed IPL really well to locals.
2. What's the point of using drones to throw match ball to umpire?
3. They probably turned away some of USA audience by making them buy $10 pass for PSL. They should have taken the route of BBL, some matches were live on NBC (free channel). PSL timing would have been perfect, night (UAE) matches starting around 11 am EST compared to 4am EST for BBL.
4. They need to have some giveaways, like players meet and greet for first 50-100 people before match. This maybe not pack the stadiums, but it will make people feel part of the league.
5. Make Final a Super Bowl type event. Instead of 10 minute innings break make it 40 minute (only for final) and have a 20 minute concert.

PSL needs someone who can think outside the box. Do things that are not done by other leagues, and make people feel part of the league, rather than try to suck money out of them.
Click to expand...

Watch sharjah matches of psl 1 they are also packed
 
IPL in Dubai looked like this...

media-20798.jpg


PSL organizers have failed with their marketing.
 
Last year crowd was good.

People in UAE are spoiled with too many match being played there.
 
Farz said:
2. What's the point of using drones to throw match ball to umpire?
3. They probably turned away some of USA audience by making them buy $10 pass for PSL. They should have taken the route of BBL, some matches were live on NBC (free channel). PSL timing would have been perfect, night (UAE) matches starting around 11 am EST compared to 4am EST for BBL.
Click to expand...


A lot of good points, but what does the drone taking the ball to the umpire have to do with crowds?

Also, please. It's $9.99 for 24 matches. That's not unreasonable at all. Since when is 11am timing perfect? lol.
 
kingusama92 said:
IPL in Dubai looked like this...

media-20798.jpg


PSL organizers have failed with their marketing.
Click to expand...

Really unfair to compare. IPL has world class players in every team, even if its held in Pakistan without your players, it will still be full. People come to see them
 
HitWicket said:
ECB are hardly going to allow a foreign T20 competition to run alongside their own domestic tournaments and international games.
Click to expand...

I'm sure PCB and ECB could sit down and find a 3-4 week span some time in the year where PSL could be held in the UK. Especially considering a number of English players are participating. It doesn't have to be in February. I know the goal is to bring it back to Pakistan, and when that happens, all stadiums will be full Insha'Allah. But until then, holding these games in UAE is a mistake. UK was the right place to hold this, I'm sure we could have worked something out with them if PCB was proactive and creative enough
 
IPL has the luxury of Indians.

Indians are everywhere and in large numbers. The Aus vs India WC SF had almost as many Indians as Australians
 
People who are comparing IPL crowd with PSL should know that Indian population in UAE is 3 times the population of Pakistani.
Most of the population of Pakistanis lives in Sharjah instead of Dubai. So, Don't jump here and there and wait for the PSL in Sharjah.
 
Executioner said:
IPL has the luxury of Indians.

Indians are everywhere and in large numbers. The Aus vs India WC SF had almost as many Indians as Australians
Click to expand...

tausiif said:
People who are comparing IPL crowd with PSL should know that Indian population in UAE is 3 times the population of Pakistani.
Most of the population of Pakistanis lives in Sharjah instead of Dubai. So, Don't jump here and there and wait for the PSL in Sharjah.
Click to expand...

It has bollywood too ,plus UAE isn't our home ground so they don't get to see our players often,its like oranges and apples comparison people are making here.
 
Saj said:
Didn't Shahryar Khan say that most matches were sold out?

Or did he mean they were just sold out from a fixing perspective.
Click to expand...

hahahahhahaha

Saj bhai you should just award yourself POTW for this!
 
PSL 2 has been a flop.

No crowds, cricket has been average, and even the players seem disinterested.

Its honestly embarrassing seeing the empty stands, can't imagine what the players feel when they go out there.

Please Sharjah be different.
 
jog_1 said:
PSL 2 has been a flop.

No crowds, cricket has been average, and even the players seem disinterested.

Its honestly embarrassing seeing the empty stands, can't imagine what the players feel when they go out there.

Please Sharjah be different.
Click to expand...

Why are they having all games in one venue. They could shuttle between venues. Evening match in one city and night game in another.
 
Dubai is an expensive city, you don't get an off from work and cricket is played way too often there so you don't have the adrenaline for the PSL one's to really go and watch! People over there like to sit in a group with the co-workers and enjoy the match through television.

The only thing you can do to attract crowds in Dubai is to Ban the telecast of PSL in the UAE
 
adil_909 said:
I'm sure PCB and ECB could sit down and find a 3-4 week span some time in the year where PSL could be held in the UK. Especially considering a number of English players are participating. It doesn't have to be in February. I know the goal is to bring it back to Pakistan, and when that happens, all stadiums will be full Insha'Allah. But until then, holding these games in UAE is a mistake. UK was the right place to hold this, I'm sure we could have worked something out with them if PCB was proactive and creative enough
Click to expand...

Never going to happen, whatever you did with it it'd be disruptive to the English international and domestic schedule. Even less likely when you consider that the ECB have now scheduled for their own revamped t20 league to start in 2020.
 
PSL in England will be more expensive and there's no guarantee the crowd will be decent throughout PSL.

Things doesn't look bright for PSL outside Pakistan and with recent events in Lahore it doesn't seems it will happen anytime soon in Pakista.
 
mhraja said:
PSL in England will be more expensive and there's no guarantee the crowd will be decent throughout PSL.

Things doesn't look bright for PSL outside Pakistan and with recent events in Lahore it doesn't seems it will happen anytime soon in Pakista.
Click to expand...

Pakistan international games and PSL are world apart in terms of pulling crowds. Even then Pakistan would be hard pressed to full houses for more than 5 games let alone the stretch of a league.
 
Why didn't they utilize all three stadiums in UAE ?

We can't expect crowd if continuous matches are arranged in one city.
 
I live in Dubai. Have attended quite a few Pakistan team matches - primarily tests but also ODIs and T20s.

In my opinion, UAE is not the venue to host matches for Pakistan or PSL.

Just doesn't pull in the numbers.

Lack of atmosphere (together with poor pitches, generally average talent and insipid brand of cricket) has hugely damaged the product that used to be Pakistan cricket.

We are forgetting: Crowds in last year's PSL were just as bad. It was slightly better in Sharjah and built significantly towards the end of the tournament. Last year, MCL was to blame. This year, something else.

Rest assured, semis and finals will be well attended and everyone will forget wk 1 and 2 and pat himself on a great tournament.

Fact is: UAE is not for Pakistan cricket.

Move out - go to England. Or even Bangladesh.
 
The problem with Dubai is that the stadium is on the outskirts and there is no cheap means of transportation to the stadium. The common people therefore find it hard to commute there.

Sharjah the stadium is in the middle of the city. People living in the neighborhood are alot of Pakistanis, both families and labourers. Hence the attendance in Sharjah will be way better and mostly full.

Dubai shouldnt be hosting PSL matches, Abu Dhabi should, the stadium is near the main camp for labourers, it is one of the main reasons the crowd is much bigger there in intl matches too.

Also PSL management should have made some arrangements to take people to the stadium, introduce season passes may be, anything that could have pulled more crowds, this is where PSL management has lacked planning.
 
Also crowd shouldnt be the only factor in judging a league, Natwest T20 Blast also doesnt have house fulls every match.
 
Chief Destroyer said:
Sharjah will be much better. A lot more convenient.
Click to expand...

ExpressPacer said:
Especially if Afridi plays.
Click to expand...

tausiif said:
Dubai stadium is quite far away from main city. You need car to reach the stadium. Thats why lot of bachelors cannot reach the venue.

On the other side, Sharjah Stadium is in City. You will see the crowd.
Click to expand...

Barragan said:
Crowds will improve in Sharjah.

No one is going to make a journey to the middle of nowhere.

Very difficult getting to and from the stadium, plus most of them work 6 days a week.
Click to expand...

KaSaNoVa_G said:
Crowd attendance i hope is better in Sharjah becuase majority of Pakistanis live in Sharjah in UAE
Click to expand...

tanveer din said:
Watch sharjah matches of psl 1 they are also packed
Click to expand...

tausiif said:
People who are comparing IPL crowd with PSL should know that Indian population in UAE is 3 times the population of Pakistani.
Most of the population of Pakistanis lives in Sharjah instead of Dubai. So, Don't jump here and there and wait for the PSL in Sharjah.
Click to expand...

jog_1 said:
PSL 2 has been a flop.

No crowds, cricket has been average, and even the players seem disinterested.

Its honestly embarrassing seeing the empty stands, can't imagine what the players feel when they go out there.

Please Sharjah be different.
Click to expand...

solehria said:
The problem with Dubai is that the stadium is on the outskirts and there is no cheap means of transportation to the stadium. The common people therefore find it hard to commute there.

Sharjah the stadium is in the middle of the city. People living in the neighborhood are alot of Pakistanis, both families and labourers. Hence the attendance in Sharjah will be way better and mostly full.

Dubai shouldnt be hosting PSL matches, Abu Dhabi should, the stadium is near the main camp for labourers, it is one of the main reasons the crowd is much bigger there in intl matches too.

Also PSL management should have made some arrangements to take people to the stadium, introduce season passes may be, anything that could have pulled more crowds, this is where PSL management has lacked planning.
Click to expand...


C4uCh1YWAAAc8jI.jpg


C4t5TS-WcAEvqNQ.jpg

it doesn't look much different
 
Terrible crowd once again.

Attendances have been awful.

Seems like even the freeloaders are getting bored with it.
 
Should never be in Dubai/UAE. Time to look elsewhere otherwise no-one will even bother with sponsorships.
 
The crowds weren't great either in the first season. The real success of last year was the following in Pakistan. I remember Sethi blowing quite a fanfare of the TV ratings in Pakistan. I remember that the Lahore v Karachi match had more viewers than the Pak v Ind match in the 2015 WC.

Anyone know how it is faring this season?
 
Why are people even expecting that it will be big crowd in every PSL match?

It is not in Pakistan, there are limited number of people in UAE who can watch a match or two. Most of the labor class can't afford watching the whole league even if they would like to as they have families to feed. Moreover who would spend come to watch a game after working 6 AM to 8 PM hard labor.

The crowds will remain the same anywhere in the world except Pakistan, so we have to live with it.
 
mhraja said:
Why are people even expecting that it will be big crowd in every PSL match?

It is not in Pakistan, there are limited number of people in UAE who can watch a match or two. Most of the labor class can't afford watching the whole league even if they would like to as they have families to feed. Moreover who would spend come to watch a game after working 6 AM to 8 PM hard labor.

The crowds will remain the same anywhere in the world except Pakistan, so we have to live with it.
Click to expand...

The question is how was the IPL able to attract much much larger crowds in both UAE and South Africa.

People go on about the size of the Indian population in the UAE - it is not 10-20 times larger than the Pakistan population, yet they managed to sell out the grounds. Problem is more than population size, it is also the quality of the product.
 
reason in my opinion. our team players are not good enough to bring people to ground. we dont have players like kohli dhoni ..
before psl check our cricket progress in Australia AND NEW Zealand. Not worth to watch them again after such a bad cricket.
half of the team need to retire. even some young ones are not good for national team
 
Honestly speaking the spot fixing news of Sharjeel and Khalid Latif has hit the tournament badly as well. Most ppl I am meeting are saying whats the point of even watching these games when you can't trust if the players are putting in 100% effort.

The other factors are not enough good players and stroke making cricket. People come to watch cricket for big sixes, while some Pakistani cricket enthusiasts will come for good fast bowling. We have neither. The PSL brand is great and they are doing their best but its up to the players to put up a show and frankly they just aren't doing it well enough. Even some of the foreign big guns like Gayle, McCullum, Sanga are failing.

Lastly, I will say as an enthusiast and supporter of Pakistan cricket I want to see some new talent coming up. It was great to see a little cameo from Fakhar Zaman that day and there are not enough unknown players in the tournament to really look forward to watching. There need to be atleast 2-3 more teams to showcase more Pakistani talent.
 
Zahid87 said:
The question is how was the IPL able to attract much much larger crowds in both UAE and South Africa.

People go on about the size of the Indian population in the UAE - it is not 10-20 times larger than the Pakistan population, yet they managed to sell out the grounds. Problem is more than population size, it is also the quality of the product.
Click to expand...

Maybe more white collar composition?
 
Opinion on the crowd living in UAE...
Only day off here is Friday! Saturday is off for only public sectors/rarely private sector is off on saturday, people here have to work from morning 7 to night 7 & then don't want to go & sit in stadiums, TV is preferred!
Ticket prices at 40dhs for Dubai stadium! how are we expecting the labour here to pay 40dhs? These guys love going to stadiums but pricing is too high for them..
I live 2 hours away from the action & i watch it on TV..
Should've given some tickets away to these workers to come & enjoy the games, build the crowd? Maybe contact schools & arrange trips for students to fill in the stadiums?
Sharjah will be better than Dubai.

Maybe need a big gun to fire! Maybe Gayle today or someone hit big & build an excitement

In Sha ALLAH next year we will have finals or some games in lahore!
This is building the intrest in PSL & building it as a league👍will be more hype when it moves to Pakistan
 
Last edited:
Zahid87 said:
The question is how was the IPL able to attract much much larger crowds in both UAE and South Africa.

People go on about the size of the Indian population in the UAE - it is not 10-20 times larger than the Pakistan population, yet they managed to sell out the grounds. Problem is more than population size, it is also the quality of the product.
Click to expand...

Indian population is almost double the size of Pakistani population if not more. On top of that they have a very strong presence in the overall economic sector as they control majority of the businesses. The spending power of Indian community in this part is far greater to Pakistani counterparts. Another factor was Indian players dont come to UAE anymore so it was a once in a life time opportunity for not just Indians but Pakistanis as well to see some of them. PSL is still in its infancy and will only get better if we are somehow able to take it back home. The craze for this brand in Pak. is clearly evident and should only go places from here.
 
Zahid87 said:
The question is how was the IPL able to attract much much larger crowds in both UAE and South Africa.

People go on about the size of the Indian population in the UAE - it is not 10-20 times larger than the Pakistan population, yet they managed to sell out the grounds. Problem is more than population size, it is also the quality of the product.
Click to expand...

I think you have got few answer regarding the composition of expatriates living in UAE. Indians are not only higher in numbers but they are into better paid jobs whereas most of Pakistanis are doing labor job.

Comparison with IPL are not fair as cricket in India is lot bigger than cricket in Pakistan and BCCI have really worked well recently to make it even bigger whereas our board has only gone the other way. Moreover Pakistan doesn't have stars who can attract the people, we don't have Dhoni, Kohli, Yuvraj etc. Afridi is the only sell-able star (although he's passed his expiry long ago) but you can see Zalmi matches have decent crowd. Plus IPL works very closely with Bollywood and Bollywood can attract Indians (plus Pakistanis & Bengalis as well) anywhere.

Yes, the quality is not good and our team hasn't been good enough recently but if PSL would have been happening in Pakistan with same teams it would have been full house every match.
 
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