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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rapa" data-source="post: 490302" data-attributes="member: 212">Has cricket's World Cup, the game's biggest tournament,   turned out to be a flop?   Local cricket   fans here in the West Indies, as well as   commentators and followers of the game feel so.    Tournament   organisers are putting on a brave face, saying they are not faring badly at   all.        But the   unexpected early exits of India   and Pakistan, the poor   performance of the hosts and the shocking murder of Pakistan   coach Bob Woolmer cast a cloud over the tournament's prospects early on.    Then there have   been allegations about the organisers dampening the Caribbean   carnival spirit of cricket watching by not allowing musical instruments   inside the grounds.    They are also   accused of making the event unaffordable for many fans with steep prices for   tickets, stadium food and merchandise.                Organisers   now accept the 16-nation, 51-match tournament over a marathon 49 days will   not be able to meet the targeted $42m in ticket sales.    By Wednesday, at   the tail-end of the Super 8 matches, only $29m worth of tickets had been   sold.    "It is not   likely that we are going to meet the target. If India   and Pakistan had continued   playing, and the West Indies had performed   better it would have a better story," Stephen Price, the tournament's   financial chief told the BBC.    "We have   done our best and we can only move [things] so much and no more."    Pricing   The ticket prices   are $25-$100 for the Super Eight matches, $25-$130 for the semi-finals and   $100-$300 for the final on 28 April. Drake.   Organisers   say they have been trying to sell as many cheap tickets as possible.    They say for the   Super 8 matches in Barbados,   the lowest $25 tickets were made available for more than 11,000 of the 27,000   seats.    "We believe   the pricing was right," says Mr Price.    But still the   organisers had to distribute 6,000 tickets free to fans during the match   between Ireland and Bangladesh.    Many Indian and   Pakistani fans had snapped up 22,334 tickets for this match in advance,   assuming it would be the clash of the South Asia   rivals.    But the fans   didn't turn up when their teams crashed out early.    Barbados is one of four venues for the Super 8   matches and is staging the final.    The island was   expecting 5,500 Indian visitors for these games.    But Petra Roach   of the Barbados Tourism Authority says only 800 have turned up.    The rest   cancelled their expensive packages, preferring to suffer substantial losses   rather then making a trip with no team to root for.    Barbados tourism authorities had actually made   four trips to India   in the run-up to the tournament to woo cricket fans and tourists alike.   "Hotels have been hit, packages have been cancelled," says Ms   Roach.    'For foreigners'   Even the   International Monetary Fund (IMF) is sceptical of the impact of the World Cup   on the Caribbean economy.    Five new stadiums   were built and others were upgraded altogether at a cost of $250m, and more   money was spent on improving infrastructure.    Some of the   stadiums were built with grants.    "The   long-term net impact of the World Cup is unclear, especially in light of the   associated fiscal costs," says the report.    The IMF believes   the economic benefits of the tournament are "likely to be diluted"   as matches are being played in different countries, and are taking place in   the middle of the peak winter tourist season when occupancy rates are already   high.    Add to this is   the fact that public investment in the Caribbean   has, according to the IMF, "shown a relatively weak link with   growth" and the picture of relative gloom is complete.    Former Australian   cricket captain Ian Chappell says the ninth cricket World Cup has been a   "public relations disaster".    "Bickering   over ticket prices and draconian measures to exclude musical instruments from   the grounds has seen many matches played in a sterile environment and   sparsely populated stadiums," says Mr Chappell.    Retired transport   worker Roy Drakes has spent a lifetime watching cricket in the islands.                He   says the tournament has been "robbed of the Caribbean   flavour".    "That's the   reason behind the attendance being poor. People would come here to savour in   the local experience.    "But the   organisers shut out musical instruments etc in the opening matches and sell   hugely expensive food inside."    The organisers   say they never banned musical instruments but only asked the fans to get   permission from the local organising committees before taking them in.    But when they   finally let fans in with musical instruments - at the Bangladesh-South Africa   match in Guyana   on 7 April - it was a tacit admission the move had not gone down well with   the fans.    As Rickey Singh,   a Barbadian journalist, says: "It looks like the World Cup was a bad   joke - to have imposed exorbitant ticket fees, treat musical instruments as   weapons of terror, restrict drinks and food containers at matches."    That, many feel,   violated the spirit of Caribbean cricket and   turned local fans off.    "It's not   for us, it's for the foreigners," says taxi driver Susan Joseph.   </blockquote>

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