T20 cricket success proves a welcome boost for Edgbaston
THE popularity of T20 cricket is providing a welcome boost to the coffers of Warwickshire, the Edgbaston management has said.
The cricket club changed its name to the Birmingham Bears for the inaugural season of this year’s NatWest T20 Blast tournament – a move not universally popular but it appears to have improved the team’s fortunes.
After a stunning win against Essex at Chelmsford, the Bears have qualified for this season’s Finals Day – which by a happy coincidence is taking place at Edgbaston on Saturday August 23.
Even prior to qualification, the cricket club said it had seen strong year-on-year growth in ticket sales and attendances for the group stages of the new look competition.
Demand for tickets for Finals Day has soared since quarter final victory at Chelmsford and the club said there were only a limited number now left for general sale.
Total ticket sales for the group games at Edgbaston increased by 55% in volume and by 30% in value in comparison to 2013. The club also achieved its biggest attendance for a domestic match at Edgbaston since 2008, with 12,514 spectators witnessing the local derby against Worcestershire Rapids.
Colin Povey, Chief Executive of Warwickshire CCC, said: “The new look NatWest T20 Blast was designed to make the game more accessible than ever before and, whilst we lost two matches to bad weather, we are very encouraged by the numbers that we saw on the three Friday night matches that were played, which in aggregate attracted more than 25,000 supporters.”
This year’s NatWest T20 Blast home games went on-sale in late March, with around 15% of tickets sold in the first 20 days. Incentives to encourage more people through the gates included a Kids Go Free offer at the last home match against Leicestershire Foxes, while for the first time this season it also introduced a full refund policy for all rain-affected T20 matches.
“We have invested in additional entertainment and an increased food & drink offering to enhance the match day experience for spectators, which combined with the team’s performances in winning through to Finals Day, has increased the level of repeat purchase. We will be studying the feedback from our supporters in the close season to see how we can make further improvements ahead of next year,” added Povey.
“Whilst it is still very early days for the rebranding of the team name to the Birmingham Bears for the NatWest T20 Blast, we believe that we have been able to build stronger links with the local communities and the city’s corporate market as a result. We can now look forward to our first Finals Day since 2003 and we have been overwhelmed by the level of interest in the match, which is likely to see a new record attendance for the day.”
The Birmingham Bears will play Surrey in the first semi-final at 11am, with Lancashire Lightning taking on Hampshire in the second match at 2.30pm. The winners will then take part in the final at 6.45pm.
