Sell Eden tickets at Rs 200: CAB to SRK

The CAB has proposed Shah Rukh’s Red Chillies Entertainment that ticket prices for each of the seven IPL matches should be — Rs 200, Rs 400, Rs 600, for the general stands at the 88-strong Eden Gardens stands, a top CAB functionary told The Indian Express late this evening.

The CAB is also learnt to have suggested Red Chillies to price the tickets for the plush Club House at Rs 5,000 each.

Although the matter is in the proposal stage, it comes across as a welcome piece of news of cricket enthusiasts in the city. Over the past couple of years, ticket prices for international matches at the Eden Gardens have been a matter of much debate and concern, with minimum prices being no less than Rs 500 each for the general stands. While SRK’s Red Chillies was planning to keep the ticket prices similar to that of the One-Day International matches, the CAB has strongly recommended the Kolkata franchisee to keep the affordability factor in mind.

Speaking to this daily, the CAB official in the know of things said: “We have asked Shah Rukh’s company to keep the ticket prices as Rs 200, Rs 400 and Rs 600. The ticket prices have got to be really affordable for city cricket fans if Red Chillies and the IPL’s organisers want the matches to be played at packed house here at the Eden Gardens. That’s why, we have categorically asked the franchisee to ensure that the ticket prices are low. If they are as high as prices for say one-day matches, then we doubt if we will see a packed stadium for a single match.”

Interestingly, the CAB is also learnt to have suggested Red Chillies to price the tickets of the Club House at no more than Rs 5,000. “We are not sure yet of how much the ticket prices for the Club House will be eventually. But we get the feeling that it should not be exceeding Rs 5,000 a ticket,” the CAB functionary said.

The CAB’s proposal to the Red Chillies will be discussed at the Kolkata team owners’ decisive meeting at Mumbai this Friday, where the team chief Shah Rukh himself is expected to take a final call on the ticket prices for the matches to be played in Kolkata.