NZC opens Auckland’s unused seating tier for India T20I amid surge in ticket demand
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "NZC opens Auckland’s unused seating tier for India T20I amid surge in ticket demand")
NZC opens Eden Park's unused tier for India T20I amid surge in ticket demand Photograph: (AFP)
NZC opens Eden Park's sixth tier for the 4th T20I against India as ticket sales surge past 50,000 in the first week for the 2026 tour.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has opened an unused sixth-tier seating area at Eden Park in Auckland for the first time in six years for the 4th T20I against India, having last been used during a match against the Men in Blue in 2019. A surge in ticket demand for India’s tour of New Zealand later this winter forced the home board to tap the unused seating space for the crowd.
“High demand at Eden Park has required the stadium’s sixth tier of seating to open for the first time since the 2019 India tour of New Zealand, with the upper level available for the fourth T20I against India on Friday, October 30,” said NZC in a statement.
“The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2015 and a men’s T20I against Australia in 2018 are the only other times in recent history that the sixth tier has opened up, signalling huge anticipation for the rematch between this year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup finalists.”
Over 50,000 tickets have been sold in the first week of tickets going live for the public. The NZC opened tickets for the fans on Monday after a two-week pre-sale window ‘for Cricket Nation members, Sky customers, and ANZ customers, with several matches on track to sell out, including the second T20I against India in Christchurch which sits at 75% sold out.’
Considering India will tour New Zealand for a full tour, including white-ball matches (ODIs and T20Is) and two Tests, NZC’s Head of Marketing Tim Ellis said that the board is ‘deep into planning for a number of events surrounding the tour and have some exciting at-game activations in the works.’
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“Being able to open up the top level of Eden Park for the first time in years is really exciting and speaks to the swell of excitement building around the tour,” he said. “Matches at Hagley Oval (which will host the first two T20Is and the second Test) have always been well attended, but to have one of them over three-quarters sold already is quite remarkable.”
