How Large is Newlands, Actually?

The cricket 'ticket-game' exists everywhere

Stadium capacities are not an exact science. It may seem straightforward – count the number of seats and add the grass banks where most countries have a safety limit of one person per square metre. Sometimes more for a T20 game when, it is assumed, the time frame makes claustrophobia and short tempers less likely. But the final number always fluctuates for every match and sometimes even from day to day.

Some seats are removed to make way renovations or the expansion of a walkway. Depending on the pitch being used for a match some seats may have a limited view of the centre, or even no view. These will affect the final attendance, but usually only by a couple of dozen.

There are also ‘service’ tickets for working staff, caterers and deliveries which don’t include a seat but, for safety and other regulatory reasons, do count towards attendance figures. And international venues all have ‘top-end’ locations (VIP suites, Long-Rooms etc) which cater for those happy to sip champagne on their feet all day.

There is also a discretionary allocation of seats for the hosts, national and local, and for the sponsors, over and above their official allocation. If a nation’s President or Prime Minister’s office informs organisers that the leader would like to pop in, it wouldn’t be a good look to say ‘no, sorry, we’re full.’ Or even somebody more important like, say, Jay Shah.

The erection of a new stand, permanent or temporary, can obviously change a venue’s capacity by thousands but it’s always a number fluid by a few hundred. There can be, however, a murkier side to this fluidity. Let’s rewind to the 2011 Cricket World Cup staged in India.

Haroon Lorgat, a chartered accountant by trade, was the ICC Chief Executive. He is an unusual combination of ‘big picture’ thinking combined with sharp focus on small detail, especially numbers. Given his role as the CEO of the organisation hosting the tournament, projecting a business plan and maximising revenue was his major responsibility.

Initially there was feigned indifference from the World Cup venues on the subject of their capacities, and then pushback as the starting date neared. The published capacity figures for all of the stadia varied significantly for the reasons stated above, but the numbers eventually supplied to the ICC were lower than any previous figures. In some cases, by several thousand.

There may have been an ‘understanding’ that the Associations which operated the host stadia could hold back a portion of tickets for private sale. It was not, however, mutually understood and Lorgat infuriated some venue operators/owners by commissioning forensic audits of their seating capacity and ability to transform certain ‘open areas’ into pop-up hospitality boxes.

It was the main reason the BCCI downgraded India’s tour to South Africa two years later after Lorgat had been appointed Cricket South Africa’s chief executive. It cost CSA over R400 million in lost TV revenue. Revenge is a dish best served, well, with canapes and complimentary drinks, presumably.

The lack of numbers is what makes the Newlands ticketing situation uncomfortable for the New Year Test against England. At no stage has the approximate capacity been confirmed. The allocation of tickets was announced in percentages. The largest of the English tour operators, the Barmy Army, said they had been allocated “a small number” of pre-confirmed tickets. By any definition they will NOT be bringing a “small number” of tourists. How, and from whom, do they access the balance?

There isn’t much in the way of ticketing dullskuddery I haven’t seen around the world over the decades, from junior administrators selling tickets clearly marked ‘complimentary’ to junior international players selling their ‘friends and family’ tickets to strangers. The look on the faces of the ‘real’ family members was priceless when a couple of strangers made a spectacle of themselves after a few afternoon beers.

There is nothing to suggest anything is amiss and that is not my intention. But the New Year Test is clearly a cash bonanza and, with premium tickets at Newlands already priced at £900 on resale websites, it’s reasonable to assume that the temptation to deconform will only increase in the months to come.

CSA are right to maximise income from the fixture, that’s their job. But it’s hard to reconcile that with 19% of tickets being complimentaries. If the capacity is, say, 17,000, that means over 3200 seats are being given away for free. That might be better explained - in the interests of transparency – and might help appease those who would happily pay R400 for a ticket and make do with a R50 Castle Lite and a samosa for lunch. For good measure, how many of those freebies are reserved for CSA staff, Board members and their families?

Some of the vagueness is understandable, as I have explained. But there has been an excess of it. Just because there is a smell of rat in the room, doesn’t mean there is one. It is worth having the contact number for a fumigator, just in case.

• Hope regular readers enjoyed my diversion down memory-lane for the last few weeks. I fear not…haven’t had a coffee for a month! Never mind, we’re back in the present now (and shh, the IPL’s almost over :)