Amid complaints, Mumbai says IBL is 'paisa vasool'

The organisers had forgotten to set up a scoreboard that would show fans the live score. They had also forgotten that fans would need to print tickets after buying them online. They also stopped the press from drinking water in the media area after making them wait for hours as they rummaged for accreditation cards.

But, all in all, the Mumbai crowd still said that the Indian Badminton League is ‘paisa vasool’.

“Not worth Rs 1200, but I would pay up to Rs 500-600 for this,” said a young woman sitting on one of the plush new purple seats that adorn the indoor stadium at the National Sports Club of India in Worli.

Others felt that the league could have been marketed better. “I never had any idea about the IBL happening here,” Keenan Thomas said. “Firstly, the advertisements started showing very late and there aren’t enough hoardings around the city which say that it’s going to happen here. If they’d marketed it better, we wouldn’t have seen these empty seats.”

The stadium was not bereft of people, but the empty seats stood out like sore thumbs. More so after Saina Nehwal’s match – which shows that Indian fans care mostly about Indian players, much as they do in cricket.

During Saina’s match, the stadium seemed more full than empty, and witnessed a whole hour of continuous cheering. For a moment, it seemed it was a cricket match – each point vociferously debated and punctuated by roars or groans.

But as soon as her match got over – it was the second of the night – people seeped away from the stadium rather than watch another men’s singles and men’s doubles match before doubles star Ashwini Ponnappa took to the court for her mixed doubles match.

Some though, were there to watch it all, even if Saina was the reason they showed up in the first place. “It’s all about Saina. We’re here to watch Saina, that’s it. But we’re still sticking around,” said Rohit Godiwala.

But while the bigger picture seems to be pretty encouraging, it’s the little details that find criticism. “Look at those seats,” says Godiwala while pointing to the seats which went for Rs 1200. “And those,” he says, this time pointing to the seats worth Rs 600. “And look at the view from here. This is the Rs 300 seat, and I find no difference. To be honest, it’s a much better view from where I’m sitting.”

As Godiwala pointed to various seats, one of his friends (who didn’t want to be named) expressed surprise at how impressive the stadium was from the inside: “We didn’t expect this. It’s all good from here, but the outside needs some work,” he said, reiterating the facts mentioned in this Mid-Day report .

We asked about a dozen people their rating for the overall experience, and while they first came up with reasons that could make it better, their ratings ranged between six and seven out of 10.

“Once or twice a year? Why not, I think it’s worth it,” said Thomas.