The BNP Paribas Open has hit attendance records this year. It’s also struggling to fill its second-biggest stadium.
Stadium 2 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, which fits about 8,000 fans, has looked mostly empty for several major matches during this year’s tournament. While it’s not the tournament’s center court, Stadium 2 still holds some of the tournament’s major matches, including Tuesday night’s women’s top 10 face-off between Amanda Anisomova and Victoria Mboko.
The inconsistency comes after the tournament made a change to its ticketing policy this year.
In past years, a grounds pass at the BNP Paribas Open would typically provide access to the upper bowl of Stadium 2, along with access to Stadiums 3-9. Only Stadium 1, which fits 16,000 fans, was limited to reserved ticketing, which required fans to purchase a separate ticket in addition to the grounds pass.
This year, the tournament made the entire Stadium 2 reserved seating, making it inaccessible to fans with just a grounds pass.
“It looks pathetic to have a Medvedev-Baez match empty at 9.30pm. It’s not even that late,” tennis journalist José Morgado tweeted Monday.
“The all-ticketed Stadium 2 has made for awful, awful visuals throughout [the] year at Indian Wells. Hopefully they revert next year,” tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg tweeted Tuesday.
The vacant seats at Stadium 2 are surprising given the grounds at Indian Wells appear more packed than ever. Repeat attendees were often heard talking about the increased number of people, an observation confirmed by Friday’s single-day tournament record of 58,828 fans.
An Indian Wells spokesperson issued a statement to Front Office Sports ahead of Tuesday night’s match at Stadium 2 between Anismova and Mboko, saying the tournament will “carefully evaluate” its decision after the tournament’s conclusion.
“As the tournament continues to grow, we are always evaluating opportunities to improve our programming and operations – including ticketing offerings – and the fan experience. In advance of this year’s tournament, we decided to evolve ticket offerings in Stadium 2 to change the upper bowl seat sales from general admission to reserved ticketing. Like every decision we make, we carefully evaluate it after each tournament’s conclusion and that analysis informs future policies,” the spokesperson said.
The tournament did not provide attendance figures at Stadium 2 when asked by FOS.
Ticket prices for Stadium 2 differ depending on the day.
For Wednesday’s day session, a Stadium 2 ticket, which also grants access to Stadiums 3-9, are $75, $15 more than a typical grounds pass. But for Thursday’s day session, a Stadium 2 ticket starts at $165 while a grounds pass starts at $50.
