Edgbaston Stadium has secured a new four-year partnership with Sporting Pay, which builds on its commitment to further enhance its customer experience and its quest to become the greenest cricket Club and venue in the country. Read more
Warwickshire County Cricket Club has appointed Stuart Cain as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), to replace Neil Snowball. Read more
2019 has been a memorable summer for sport in the UK, with a plethora of events encompassing different sports and attracting fans from around the world.
Arguably, since 2012, never has the UK been such a focal point for summertime sports with the country hosting two World Cups (netball and cricket), two Major League Baseball fixtures and the Ashes contest, alongside the all-time British classics of The Open, Wimbledon, Ascot and the Grand Prix.
Nuno Guerreiro, principle at HOK Sport and Entertainment says that fundamental to the success of this year has been the locations. He said:
Whilst M&S Bank Arena, Royal Portrush and the London Stadium aren’t exactly new, they have yet to acquire the international renown enjoyed by the iconic venues of Wimbledon, Lords, Ascot and Silverstone; that said, they all delivered unequivocally.
Probably the venue facing the biggest challenge was Royal Portrush; not only did it have the weight of expectation of being the first Northern Irish host to The Open in 70 years, bringing its infrastructure in line with the expectation of tournament stakeholders and 237,750 sophisticated golf fans for the four-day spectacle was quite some task.
The expectations inherent amongst stakeholders using a venue are not to be underestimated; organisers, sponsors, the media, athletes and fans have widely varying and exacting needs. These can vary from state-of-the-art media centres and broadcast facilities, a selection of corporate hospitality options, a range of fan food and beverage concessions, fan entertainment areas (to meet the ever-growing demands of social media) and impressive player facilities – spanning discrete warm up areas, treatment rooms, changing facilities and lounges.
With established grounds, there is often the need to retrofit technology – hence the historic issues with services such as WiFi – but even modern venues face unexpected challenges, as anyone who has hosted VVIP guests or completely new sports can attest.
Whilst the results of home nations teams were varied, the summer has been hailed as a great success. Even a quick look at the figures behind the fixtures show what a mammoth task it was and with this in mind, the UK sports sector can probably take a moment, with a lot of pride, to reflect on what it has achieved.
| Event | Venue | Attendance | Ave Ticket Price | Participating Athletes | Hours of Sporting
Action |
Duration |
| ICC
World Cup
|
Bristol, Cardiff, Durham, Edgbaston, Hampshire, Headingly, Lords, Old Trafford, Taunton, The Oval, Trent Bridge, | 800,000 | £86 | 150 | 384 hours | 41 days |
| MLB London Series
|
The London Stadium | 118,718 | £168 | 52 | 6 hours | 2 days |
| Netball World Cup
|
M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool | 125,000 | £39 | 192 | 60 hours | 10 days |
| Royal Ascot | Ascot Racecourse | 292,719 | £56 | 509 horses
94 jockeys
|
2 hours, 15 minutes | 5 days |
| The Ashes | Edgbaston, Lords, Headingly, Old Trafford, The Oval | 483,800 | £100 | 31 | 130 hours | 23 days |
| The Open
|
Royal Portrush | 237,750 | £68 | 156 | 50 hours | 4 days |
| Wimbledon
|
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club | 500,397 | £99 | 864 | 1092 hours, 45 minutes | 13 days |
*Figures calculated based on price brackets and averages not volumes
Image: The band of the Scots Guards entertains fans during a lunch break in the Ashes Test at The Oval.
@PanStadiaArena
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is responding to demand for its programme of major match cricket in the coming year by boosting the capacity of its Edgbaston Stadium through a temporary stand. Read more
Warwickshire County Cricket Club has announced the next phase of development at Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham. Read more
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is reacting to high demand for England’s inaugural Day/Night Investec Test match against West Indies in August, by securing use of a temporary stand to increase the stadium capacity. Read more
Warwickshire County Cricket Club will be installing a temporary stand at Edgbaston to increase capacity for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in June. Read more
Birmingham’s Edgbaston Stadium has unveiled a new brand identity ahead of an exciting period that will see the legendary venue host many of cricket’s biggest fixtures, including the ICC Cricket World Cup, the Investec Ashes Series and the ICC Champions Trophy.
The new logo, which has been designed in partnership with Birmingham-based agency VIVA, has been themed on Edgbaston’s iconic e-shaped floodlights, with the new website for the venue (www.edgbaston.com) also unveiled by Class Creative.
Gareth Roberts, Commercial Director at Warwickshire County Cricket Club, said:
The recent £32m redevelopment of our Pavilion End at Edgbaston was designed to ensure that the stadium would regularly host the world’s biggest cricket matches. With these fixtures awarded and fast approaching, it’s essential that we have a brand that our visitors can recognise, but also have supporting messages around the stadium which highlight what a special venue Edgbaston is.
We have ambitions to be the world’s leading cricket business and as part of our brand redevelopment we have unveiled our new performance pyramid, of passion, preparation and performance, which will help staff deliver a special experience to our visitors in attendance.
The new Edgbaston brand is clearly visible from the front of the stadium with a giant (10ft) illuminated ‘e’ installed by the venue’s official partner Dragon Signs. Inside the main reception, a timeline of Edgbaston and Warwickshire CCC history has been mounted on either side, with more moments in history displayed around the stadium.
Last summer’s hosting of the third Investec Ashes Test Match saw Edgbaston nominated for ‘Best Entertainment Experience’ at the upcoming BT Sport Industry Awards. Overall, the venue hosts 35 days of major match cricket over the next four years with Marketing Birmingham expecting this year’s fixtures to generate a £17.7m impact on the local economy.
Councillor John Clancy, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said:
Edgbaston is a key part of the sporting and cultural offer in Birmingham, helping to put our city firmly on the global sporting map. And thanks to major events like the ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Cricket World Cup, Edgbaston also continues to plays a big part in our visitor economy.
In 2016 Edgbaston will host the England cricket team in a Royal London One-Day International against Sri Lanka on 29 June and an Investec Test Match against Pakistan from 3 August. It will also host the marquee day in domestic cricket, with NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day on 20 August.
Edgbaston Brand lighting: The illuminated ‘e’ outside the ground. Picture by Sam Bagnall.
Main pic: Neil Snowball, Warwickshire County Cricket Club Chief Executive, Dougie Brown, Warwickshire County Cricket Club Director of Cricket, Henrik Court, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Events & Marketing Director, Chris Woakes, Warwickshire CCC and England all-rounder (credit: Sam Bagnall)
Birmingham’s Edgbaston Stadium has been officially recognised for having the best atmosphere of UK cricket venues in a study of all match days in 2015 undertaken by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
The atmosphere on the third day of last summer’s Investec Ashes Test Match at Edgbaston received a score of 9.5 out of 10 by the spectators in attendance, which was the highest score of any international fixture or final played in the summer of 2015.
Gareth Roberts, Commercial Director at Warwickshire County Cricket Club, said:
The atmosphere at Edgbaston is world-renowned and differentiates the stadium from any other cricket venue in the country. We are very proud that the atmosphere is ranked by the spectators in attendance as the best in the country.
In recent years we have invested in all elements of our match day experience to ensure that our spectators have a memorable day out at Edgbaston. This has included operating shuttle buses from the city centre, improving parking facilities around the stadium, an increased food and drink offering and more entertainment around the bowl of stadium.
It’s fantastic to see this investment recognised in the scores given by spectators who attended our matches in 2015, and we hope that this will lead to many fans returning in the new season.
The ECB issues post-match surveys to ticket buyers of all UK international and NatWest T20 Blast games, with an opportunity to score 10 elements of the match day experience, including atmosphere, seating, public announcements and the food and drink offering.
Steve Elworthy, ECB’s Director of Events said:
Putting fans at the heart of the game is one of the ECB’s key priorities and the atmosphere at Edgbaston last summer shows how passionate people are about this sport.
The team at Edgbaston are to be congratulated on tapping into this passion and the needs of their community in order to deliver a great event for everyone involved.
It is vitally important for all sports fans to know they are going to be offered a fantastic experience when they come to a cricket match.
This summer, Edgbaston hosts England in the Royal London One-Day International (ODI) on Friday 24 June and the Investec Test Match against Pakistan from Wednesday 3 to Sunday 7 August. Edgbaston also hosts the NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day on Saturday 20 August.
Image: Spectators in Edgbaston’s iconic Eric Hollies Stand during the Investec Ashes Test Match. BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – JULY 30, 2015: During day two of the 3rd Investec Ashes Test match between England and Australia. (Photo by Sam Bagnall – AMA/Getty Images)
Whilst hosting an Ashes Test Match is a great opportunity, the Club had to work very hard to maximise this opportunity; activities included the installation of a temporary stand to give even more spectators a chance to watch the match and new travel and catering initiatives that made the spectator experience more enjoyable.It is also very encouraging to be rewarded for the increased investment in T20 cricket. The regular opportunity to watch Birmingham Bears play on a Friday night and allowing under 16s in for free has made T20 cricket at Edgbaston a very exciting proposition, and we have ambitious plans to grow further in 2016.
Whilst we achieved record commercial success in 2014/15, we have also received our best ever customer feedback scores; these are from surveys that are sent out to each customer that has purchased tickets for our international and domestic T20 matches to rate their experience.Our Members and supporters are at the heart of everything that we do and we are constantly looking at new ways in which we can make their experience of cricket at Edgbaston even more enjoyable and easier to access, whether that’s shuttle buses from Birmingham city centre to the stadium or a wider choice of food and drink outlets.The special atmosphere that supporters generated at our 2015 international match days was highly commended by several players in 2015 – including Alastair Cook and David Warner. This atmosphere differentiates Edgbaston from any other cricket venue in the UK and makes our match days a very special experience. We’re delighted to have such an exciting programme of fixtures to recreate this in the coming years.
