Warwickshire County Cricket Club has reported turnover of £14.3m and operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £785,761 in its annual report for the 2015/16 financial year.
On the field in the 2016 season, Warwickshire were crowned Royal London One-Day Cup champions, whilst the club’s Edgbaston Stadium accommodated more than 80,000 spectators across five days of England’s Investec Test match victory over Pakistan. The club also achieved ticket and hospitality sell outs for its Royal London One-Day International – England versus Sri Lanka – and NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day.
Off the field, Edgbaston increased its share of the West Midlands’ conference and events market by developing year-on-year sales from £2.2 million to a record £2.5 million. Commercial advertising and partnership revenue also increased from £1.05m in 2014/15 to £1.2m.
Craig Flindall, Chief Operating Officer at Warwickshire County Cricket Club, said: “The 2015/16 financial year was always forecast to be the most challenging in our 2016-2019 financial cycle, and the results are in line with our budgets set at the start of the year.
“The quality and volume of our Major match days remains the primary driver of revenue and profit and a significant fall in both was expected in 2016 because of the comparative demand for the Investec Test match against Pakistan against the previous year’s Investec Ashes Test match, which is our most popular fixture. However, the transformation in the business since 2010, when England last hosted Pakistan in a Test Match at Edgbaston, is reflected in the comparison in the results, with turnover and EBITDA in 2016 being £6.5m and £2.4m higher than 2010 respectively.
“The Club also reported record match day catering sales for a non-Ashes year thanks to our increased investment in enhancing Edgbaston’s spectator experience.
“We expect to see EBITDA and bottom line revenues grow significantly over the next three years as Edgbaston hosts up to 28 days of major match cricket. We have an 11-day programme in 2017, which includes five matches in the ICC Champions Trophy, England’s first day/night Investec Test match and NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day.”
Beyond the coming season, Edgbaston’s major match allocation includes an Investec Test match against India, a NatWest International T20 and NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day in 2018, and an Investec Ashes Test match and five matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019.
Neil Snowball, Chief Executive of Warwickshire CCC, said: “Whilst we have an outstanding allocation of major match days in the next three years, we are working hard to develop our off-field commercial opportunities. We made good progress in 2016 and will gain further momentum as we begin our development of the Edgbaston site – in the autumn – which includes new catering, retail and residential opportunities in areas of the car park and connecting land.
“The club is entering one of the most exciting periods in its history and our thanks go to our principal stakeholders of the England & Wales Cricket Board and Birmingham City Council, our commercial partners and club members for their continued support.”
