New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani attended the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on a standing room ticket he bought himself. No suite, no entourage, no special treatment. Just a mayor standing with the fans, watching the game the way everyone else did. It's a small act that carries a pointed message about what showing up for sport is supposed to look like.

Cricket and sport don't owe anyone anything. The debt runs the other way. The VVIP entitlement culture that has taken root across sport, and cricket in particular, treats stadiums as tools for reinforcing hierarchy and social division rather than what they are: spaces that belong equally to every fan who walks through the gate. People in positions of power arriving at matches expecting hospitality, wining and dining, and special privileges by virtue of their title have it backwards.

When a leader of one of the world's largest cities pays for an ordinary ticket and shows up as a plain fan, that is the standard every so-called VIP should be measured against. Nobody with a title owns the game. Respect belongs to the fans who pay for their seats and the athletes who perform on the field.

Published on Subwave

https://subwave.app/@cri9259/post/crickets-vip-culture-