Fewer international matches impact cricket club’s turnover
Warwickshire County Cricket Club has reported a drop in turnover and operating profit for 2017/18, which it attributed to fewer major match days being staged at Edgbaston in the year.
The club’s turnover for the period fell by £200,000 to £17.3m compared to 2016/17 due to a reduced allocation of seven major match days in 2018, with the venue hosting 11 days the year before, five of which were ICC Championship Trophy fixtures.
The 2018 summer saw Edgbaston host England’s only Vitality International T20 versus Australia in addition to the opening Test of the five-match Specsavers Test series versus India. The Birmingham venue also hosted Vitality Blast Finals Day for the tenth time.
Craig Flindall, chief operating offer, said: “Together with the reduced volume of international matches in 2018, our analysis showed that starting the Test Match on a Wednesday had a negative impact on our ticket sales, whilst catering and merchandise revenues were restricted by the early finish before lunch on day four.”
An increase in cost of sales of £600,000, due to higher match staging costs, saw the club record an operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £1.7m, down £760,000 on the previous year.
However, the club said that while the results were below expectations, it is now gearing up for what it says will be the biggest programme of major match cricket that the club’s Edgbaston Stadium has ever hosted.
Flindall said: “Off the field, the club achieved its primary objective in the last financial year by securing a substantial 31-day allocation of major match cricket, between 2020 and 2024, in the England & Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) tender process. This includes an Ashes Test match, T20 Finals Day each year and Tests in four of the five summers, whilst Edgbaston will also host a team in the ECB’s new 100-ball domestic tournament.
“With major match cricket continuing to be the primary driver of revenue for the club, this strong allocation and new tournament opportunity underpins our long-term financial model.”
Neil Snowball, chief executive of Warwickshire CCC, said: “On the field, the team achieved its main objective by securing a return to Division One of the Specsavers County Championship, as Division Two champions, at the first attempt whilst the transition of the squad continued, with the development of several young, homegrown players and further targeted external recruitment.
“The 2019 summer is arguably the biggest in the history of English cricket, and Edgbaston will play a major part in this by hosting five marquee games in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, including the ICC World Cup Semi Final on 11 July, the opening Test of the Specsavers Ashes series and Vitality Blast Finals Day.
“Ticket demand for these games has been unprecedented, with the opening three days of the Ashes already sold out and the ballot allocations for the World Cup being exhausted. Finals Day sales tickets are also up by nearly 25 per cent compared with this time in 2018.
“With such a strong 2019 schedule and the identity of all teams in the new domestic tournament set to be revealed in the coming months, we have a fantastic opportunity to both deliver financially and leave a lasting legacy for the game in Birmingham, Warwickshire and the wider West Midlands.”
