10,000 Tickets for Karnataka VIPs? BCCI Reveals Why Bengaluru Lost IPL 2026 Final Hosting Rights
Devajit Saikia, the Secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India revealed reasons for the denial of hosting rights of final of Indian Premier League 2026 from Bengaluru though Royal Challengers Bengaluru is the defending champion.
It is the Narendra Modi Stadium where the final match of the IPL 2026 would be played and Dharamshala and New Chandigarh will host the rest of the playoff matches.
According to Saikia, the decision was also impacted due to the purported demand of the Karnataka State Cricket Association for the acquisition of thousands of additional complimentary tickets apart from the entitled quota.
The Karnataka State Cricket Association earlier expressed its dissatisfaction for being unsuccessful in getting the rights for hosting the final of the league though it stated to be ready to host it at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
BCCI Reveals Ticket Dispute
On being asked, Saikia informed that by the rule of IPL, only 15 percent complimentary tickets have to be provided by host associations as per capacity of the stadium.
Saikia stated
"As per IPL protocol, we are required to provide only 15% of the total seating capacity as complimentary tickets to the host association. This constitutes the standard protocol; all host state associations receive a 15% allocation of their total capacity in the form of complimentary tickets."
Saikia also further stated that he was informed through various channels that even during the IPL league matches the KSCA has demanded a lot more additional complimentary tickets rather than 15 percent.
He added:
"However, we received information from various sources indicating that during the hosting of IPL league matches, the Karnataka State Association was claiming a significantly higher number of complimentary tickets far exceeding the stipulated 15%."
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Demand For 10,000 Additional Tickets
According to Saikia, it was only after they requested clarification from the KSCA via an e-mail that the BCCI was astonished by the response from the KSCA on May 2.
Saikia said:
"Consequently, we sent them an email requesting precise details regarding this matter. We were shocked when we received a response via email from the Karnataka State Cricket Association on May 2nd; in that email, they stated that, over and above the 15% complimentary ticket quota, they would require an additional, substantial allocation of tickets for their members, affiliated clubs, and various others."
He added:
"Most surprisingly, they also requested tickets for their local Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and Members of the Legislative Council. And also to the government of Karnataka, 700 complimentary tickets. Thus, over and above the 15% allocation, they were demanding approximately 10,000 additional tickets."
The controversy has followed a political storm previously raised in the state over free IPL tickets given to elected officials. Earlier, the Congress MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar was heard saying that the MLA's are 'VIPs' and they do not need to queue for tickets. Later, it took the intervention of the Deputy CM of Karnataka to break the deadlock over the same issue.
Earlier sources confirmed that increasing issues with ticket distribution and logistics led to Bengaluru's removal as the venue for the IPL 2026 playoffs and finals.