Defending IPL champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will pay a special tribute to the 11 people who lost their lives in last year's stampede by keeping 11 seats at the Chinnaswamy Stadium vacant this season.

On 4 June 2025, as many as 11 people were killed in a stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium during RCB's title victory celebrations. More than 50 other people were injured in an event that was attended by approximately 300,000 people.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru had beaten the Punjab Kings by six runs in the IPL 2025 final in Ahmedabad on 3 June to clinch their first-ever IPL title.

RCB to vacate 11 seats at Chinnaswamy Stadium “In memory of the 11 fans who we lost on June 4, the players will be wearing jersey number 11 for the practice, on the game day, on the practice time before the match.

"So all the players will have jersey number 11 on the back, not for the game but for the practice," RCB CEO Rajesh Menon said during a press conference on Tuesday.

"Apart from that, they will be also wearing a black armband on that day. We are also looking at having 11 permanent seats empty in Chinnaswamy Stadium forever. This is for the 11 fans who will be with us forever. That's a quick update on what we are doing this year,” he added.

The incident last June meant that Bengaluru missed out on hosting the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup and the 2026 men's T20 World Cup matches.

In December 2025, former India cricketer Venkatesh Prasad was named the new president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), and he led a massive overhaul of the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

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He worked with the Karnataka government and the BCCI to help secure clearances for the stadium to host IPL 2026 games.

Among the new safety measures, the KSCA has constructed six to 13 new gates and has widened the existing entry gates by at least nine metres. Approximately 500 CCTV cameras have been installed inside the stadium and a new QR code-based e-ticketing system has been introduced.

It was only recently that an Expert Committee appointed by the Karnataka government conducted safety and structural audits of the stadium and gave the go-ahead to conduct matches. RCB will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two other games in Raipur.

Rajesh Menon thanks state officials "I would like to thank the Karnataka state government, the CM, DCM, HM, Commissioner, and Joint Commissioner. We have an SOP from the Karnataka High Court which we have to follow with KSCA, RCB, and DNA under the guidance of the Karnataka state police," Menon said.

He also elaborated on the CCTV cameras installed in the stadium, 300-250 of which are AI-powered.

"It can give alerts in real-time if there is a queue build-up; it can alert all police and liaison authorities," Menon stated, adding that based on advice from the police, they have re-configured all entries and exits.