Last hurrah for Edgbaston as T20 final sets new ticket sales record
Warwickshire County Cricket Club has been boosted by record ticket sales ahead of this year’s NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day, which takes place at Edgbaston tomorrow (Saturday).
The showpiece event of the domestic cricket is once again a sell-out and the event rounds off a successful year of big match cricket for the club.
It will also provide the team – which plays as the Birmingham Bears in the competition – with a chance to redeem a disappointing county championship season by repeating its finals day success in 2014 when the team won the competition in front of its home crowd.
The club has boosted the capacity of Edgbaston by 850 seats for the finals day by installing the temporary stand it used when it staged the inaugural day/night test match against the West Indies in August.
In turn, ticket and hospitality sales have reached 24,426 for Saturday’s event, beating the previous best for T20 finals day of 24,300, which was set in 2015.
Neil Snowball, chief executive of Warwickshire CCC, said: “NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day is the biggest day in the domestic cricket calendar and we’re thrilled to secure record ticket sales for this year’s event.
“Saturday will be the ninth time that finals day has been staged at Edgbaston and this year is extra special thanks to Birmingham Bears qualifying for the third time in four seasons.”
Underlining the popularity of the short-format game, attendances at the Birmingham Bears group games have risen for a fourth consecutive season.
On the road to finals day, the club welcomed 61,678 members and supporters for the Bears’ six home games (a seventh was abandoned due to rain). Average attendances were up 18%, year-on-year, to 10,280. The Bears also set a record for a T20 group game at Edgbaston, with a crowd of 15,113 for the local derby against Worcestershire Rapids on August 4.
The club has focused on attracting more families to games in 2017, with the number of children in attendance at Birmingham Bears home games rising by 27% to 10,180.
In a post-match survey, ticket buyers rated their experience at 8.6 out of 10, again a new record for the club.
Mr Snowball added: “We’re thrilled to see further increases in our NatWest T20 Blast attendances and experience scores, particularly amongst families, with more parents able to take advantage of the free entry for under 16s.”
NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day gets underway at 11am on Saturday with Birmingham Bears taking on Glamorgan in the first semi-final, which is followed by Hampshire versus Notts Outlaws at 2.30pm. The winner will meet in the final at 6.45pm.
