Lord's scale up ticket prices for marquee WTC final and India Test matches - Reports
The iconic Lord's in London has introduced a spike in ticket prices for the high-profile clashes scheduled for the 2025 summer. Lord's will host the third World Test Championship (WTC) final and a Test against India, which will kickstart the next cycle, among many other fixtures.
The venue came under scrutiny for setting high prices for the latter portion of the red-ball home season. England faced West Indies and Sri Lanka at Lord's, with the latter producing an embarrassing turnout for the fourth day, leaving several stands empty.
On that occasion, the ticket prices ranged from £115 to £140 for adults and £15 to £40 for concessions.
For the Test against India next year, the prices for the first three days have been ramped up. The cheapest ticket comes at £90, along with a restricted view. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the most expensive ticket at £175, while accessibility tickets are priced at £120.
For the penultimate day, the prices drop down, keeping the recent no-shows in mind. The prices start at £50, rising to £150.
As far as the WTC final is concerned, the ticket prices have been set at £70-130 for adults and £20-£50 for under-16s.
The Lord's will also host WODI matches between England and India, where the tickets will be available from £25 to £45. On the other hand, fans will have to shell out anywhere between £75 to £150 to witness the ODI between England and South Africa in October 2025.
"We will be paying particular attention to the structure of fourth-day tickets" - MCC after low-turnouts at Lord's
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) had to look into the pricing structure to draw more crowd in during the latter stages of the Test matches in the Bazball era. The early finishes and the steep prices kept fans away from the proceedings.
"We will be paying particular attention to the structure of fourth-day tickets in our pricing reviews given the way that Test cricket is now being played. From the outset, we priced U16 tickets at just £15 for weekend days of our Test matches and introduced a group discount for day four. It is difficult to dynamically discount tickets in hindsight when thousands of supporters have applied through our 2023 ballot process and paid the full price," MCC chief secretary and executive Guy Lavender had said in a statement following England's win over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
The 2025 WTC final is scheduled to begin at Lord's from June 11 onwards, with the provision of a reserve day.