APPENDIX 15
Memorandum submitted by the England and
Wales Cricket Board
The Committee has requested that the ECB provides
information about the impact of the 1999 Cricket World Cup in
five areas: marketing, ticketing, spectator base, participation
and economic. The Committee also requested that ECB provides information
on the direct financial outcome of the Tournament.
1. FINANCIAL
OUTCOME
The Tournament recorded a surplus of £13.7
million for the ECB while it provided the International Cricket
Council with its best financial result ever with almost £17
million. More details provided in attached Financial Result.
2. MARKETING
ECB regarded the Tournament as an opportunity
to focus attention on the sport in the UK and to create a "legacy"
of wider public awareness and interest in cricket at all levels.
Marketing activity centred around "Carnival
of Cricket" theme as evidenced by the ticket sales launch
and awareness levels created by promotional and editorial activity
as well as by broadcaster and sponsor promotion.
Significant marketing spend was deemed uneconomic
in light of lack of sponsor contribution and, due to enormous
success of ticket sales, remedial action was unnecessary.
— The best indication of the impact
of the marketing of the World Cup is in research figures and the
Tournament's "legacy".
— Cricket's viewer base rose 10 per
cent as a result of the Tournament.
— 96 per cent of the population were
aware that the World Cup had taken place.
— More than half the population watched
at least 30 minutes of the Tournament on television while 10 per
cent watched 16 or more matches.
— Interest levels in the Tournament
actually rose for the latter stages despite England dropping out.
— World Cup served to raise public
opinion of the sport for 16 per cent of the nation.
3. TICKETING
Effective and controlled distribution of tickets
is essential to the success of any major sporting event and, second
to financial achievement, is the measure by which that success
is measured. A successful ticketing exercise was doubly important
following public dissatisfaction with ticketing arrangements for
Euro 96 and the 1998 Football World Cup.
The ticketing policy aimed to: "Maximise
attendance at, and enthusiasm for, the 1999 Cricket World Cup
through an affordable, open and fair ticketing system which generates
maximum possible revenues especially from the Super Six onwards."
The system was computerised and centrally controlled
with on-line capability to Host Venues, all seats were numbered
and tickets sold as seat-specific, members received a discount,
a "loyalty" system linking the Final to earlier matches
was established and allocations were set aside for all teams,
agencies and commercial partners.
In an effort to limit resellers' access to tickets,
restrictions were placed on the number to tickets sold to any
one purchaser, security devices were to be included within the
system and the tickets and hard copy distribution did not begin
until one month before the Tournament.
The decision to "take the game to the people"
and to stage matches in Scotland, Ireland and Holland as well
as at the 18 First Class Counties was justified as all Matches
played to capacity or near capacity (476,000 out of a total of
490,000).
In fact, the £13.8 million revenue from
ticketing was considerably in excess of the £11 million target,
totally vindicating the decision to keep the operation in-house.
The decision also allowed total control of the ticket inventory
and, while it is impossible to completely eradicate it, the measures
taken definitely limited the level of touting which in turn reduced
the potential for crowd disturbances and disrupted traffic flows.
4. SPECTATOR
AND PARTICIPATION
LEVELS
Much of the research carried out after the Tournament
concentrated upon its impact upon television audiences and general
public awareness of the Tournament and its sponsors, making it
difficult to establish comparisons with previous years.
Given 1999 was a unique year in both Test and
one-day international structure from others, it is also invidious
to make a precise comparison with 2000, especially since the 2000
season was badly disrupted by inclement weather.
However, the exuberant support of thousands
of sub-continent fans justified the promotion of the Tournament
as a Carnival of Cricket and encouraged a couple of Counties to
pursue Asian players as their overseas professional, in turn resulting
in an increase in memberships among the Asian community. Additionally,
the Oval staged a one-off charity game involving a team of Asian
players that enjoyed a huge Asian following, increasing the view
that cricket has opened itself to a more multi-cultural audience.
The World Cup Education Programme saw 4,500
Schools Activity Packs distributed to primary schools throughout
the country alongside which Counties ran their own parallel competitions
with a prize of playing cricket during the interval of a World
Cup match. A further 1,000 secondary schools participated, each
receiving a bag of equipment free of charge including teaching
materials with a prize similar to that for primary schools.
The benefits to the game are clear, with participation
at primary levels increasing by 11 per cent on the previous year,
bursting through the one million barrier for the first time. According
to Sport England, cricket is the only game in the last five years
in which there has been an increase in the number of children
participating on a frequent basis.
Perhaps the legacy of the World Cup is more
indirect. It has certainly resulted in the introduction of at
least two new sponsors as well as Channel 4, a new and dynamic
broadcaster that has revolutionised the televising of cricket
in the UK. This, in turn, has enthused a whole new audience to
tune into and play the game—which will only increase as
England continues its success on field.
5. ECONOMIC IMPACT
No figures available.
December 2000
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