Warwickshire County Cricket Club has confirmed profit in the annual report from the COVID-affected 2019-20 financial year on January 27. The club has confirmed small profits amid the impact of the global pandemic. Due to the global lockdown, most of the cricketing action got postponed, and when it got restarted in England back in the month of July last year, the games were played behind closed doors.
Losing spectators meant the club would lose funds up to £1 million but Warwickshire states the club has still made an operating profit of £281,000. The county played a pre-season friendly in front of 1,000 crowd, while Warwickshire’s home venue Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham hosted England’s second Test against the visiting West Indies from July 16 to July 20. The club also hosted the final of the T20 Blast.
While the second ODI against the Irish side was taken away and the postponement of The Hundred also hit the club. It is reported that Warwickshire furloughed staff and players as part of the UK’s job retention scheme and that is where the county was able to offset any expected losses. Apart from this avenue, the advanced ticket sales for the international season and T20 Finals Day alongside the TV money has helped boost revenues.
Although the County Championship is due to begin on 8 June, the biggest dates for Warwickshire County is the second Test against New Zealand on June 10 and the third ODI against Pakistan scheduled for June 13.
Warwickshire’s Chief Operating Officer Craig Flindall said, “Strong sales of major match tickets and club memberships for the 2020 season put us in a good position to initially mitigate the impact of COVID. Major match ticket sales in March 2020 were significantly ahead of budget, with three days sold out, and we were able to retain these revenues through the game’s ticket cancellation insurance.”