County Championship games will benefit sponsors - Derbyshire CEO

by Rob Johnston • Last updated on Wed, Jun 10, 2020, 07:00 PM

"The fourth quarter is always very good from a non-cricket business perspective" - Duckett © Getty

It is all systems go for the return of international cricket in England next month. The West Indies arrived in the UK on Tuesday (June 9) ahead of a three Test series which will begin, subject to government approval, on July 8 at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. While things are progressing well in the international arena then, the picture for the county game is not yet established.

The ECB has confirmed that no professional domestic cricket will take place in England or Wales until at least August 1 because of Covid-19. And although there is growing optimism that some county cricket will be played in late summer - with one proposal for a shortened four-day tournament in August and then the T20 Blast following in September being discussed by county chiefs - nothing has yet been approved by the ECB Board or the UK government.

Although the majority of counties are understood to be in favour of playing some county cricket this season, there are financial issues to consider. There will be hardly any matchday revenue generated from playing behind closed doors, as will likely be the case, at least initially, while there will be significant costs involved, including paying playing staff and ground personnel. There will also be costs associated with creating the bio-secure environments necessary to get the games on safely.

As a result, with little income being generated from the games but plenty of costs to be met, playing matches could end up costing counties money. Given the significant losses already being faced by many of the 18 first-class clubs because of Covid-19, a small number of them are understood to be hesitant about pressing ahead with a domestic season.

Others claim there are positives to a resumption, however. Derek Bowden, Essex CEO, told Cricbuzz last week, that playing county games, a number of which will be shown on Sky Sports, will fulfil some of the ECB's obligations under the GBP 1.1billion broadcast deal and increase the likelihood that Sky will keep their payments coming in. The broader game in England and Wales relies on that money.

There are also other benefits to getting games on, according to Ryan Duckett, Derbyshire's chief executive, particularly if they are streamed live on county websites or shown live on Sky. That would maintain some exposure for sponsors and will also provide a boost to the cricket watching public who are craving the sense of normality that watching their country brings, even if they can't do so in person.

"We are desperate to do everything we can to get cricket on," Duckett told Cricbuzz. "There's absolutely benefit there for sponsors and our members and people who are generally interested in domestic cricket. Even if we can't have people in the ground, our streaming service has grown in popularity. We would certainly make our matches accessible that way to add value to all key stakeholders such as sponsors and members.

"Before that decision is made, we want to understand the financial implications and what's needed in terms of creating a safe venue. I would imagine in the next couple of weeks we will get more detail on that and then will make a decision." Things will need to move quickly. Although the arrangements have not yet been confirmed, the aim is for the players of the 16 counties which furloughed their squads to return to training on July 1 ahead of an August resumption.

There remains hope that spectators will be allowed later in the summer, perhaps in September, with potential restrictions on numbers and strict social distancing in place. That would certainly make a difference in terms of revenue. "Hopefully that will be the case but there's lots of work to be done and relaxation of the government guidelines before we can start doing that," Duckett said. "If we can get crowds in later in the summer, it would certainly be a bonus to all the forecasts we have done."

Duckett estimates that Derbyshire are facing a reduction in revenues of between GBP 1.2million and GBP 2million this year. After a strong 2019, when the county recorded a significant surplus of GBP 420,000, there is acute frustration that they haven't been able to build on that foundation. On the plus side, having a good year last year has, according to Duckett, put Derbyshire in a "stronger position than we might have been in in previous years" to ride the storm.

As it is for many first-class counties, however, the medium and long-term outlook remains uncertain. Derbyshire are not alone in being heavily reliant on ECB funding and diversifying their business has been a priority over the past few years. The club now has a large conference and events business, which has taken a significant hit, and they were also due to hold four music concerts at the Incora County Ground this summer, all of which have been postponed.

"Once the season is finished, the fourth quarter is always very good from a non-cricket business perspective," Duckett said. "At the moment, we don't know whether we can deliver that or not. Our programme for this year was really positive and would have taken it [financial progress] a step on. I don't think any business in this sector is going to think it's going to come straight back to normal but hopefully, we can get that business back to where it was reasonably quickly."

For now, Derbyshire, like so many other counties, are doing all they can to protect their business. Players, coaches and administration staff have been placed on furlough and contracts of their overseas players have been deferred until next season. "We have done what we can to safeguard the business," Duckett said. "The Board has run the club sensibly over a number of years and it will hopefully stand us in good stead."

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County Championship games will benefit sponsors - Derbyshire CEO

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